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More new legionnaires in 2017 and more reservists

USMCRET

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Documentaries, I've watched them all, they pack you the whole selection and training process in 45 minutes. When in reality all that happens in months. Documentaries show very little in reality.
Capgros, what you say rings true. One may see a snippet of what it is like during the Farm and they see a caporal-chef screaming or correcting an EV and they say to themselves “What? FFL tough? I can handle that.â€￾ The same see a Marine Corps documentary and watch a Marine Corps Drill Instructor(s) just stressing a recruit for a period of time and they say, man, the Marines aren't shit.

Then, they get to the farm or in the Marine Corps Case Boot Camp, and what they thought they could handle because of the five minutes they saw on TV evaporates and REALITY kicks in, NO, the caporal-chef or the DI gut punches you back to reality. The stress you thought you could handle because of the five minutes has just turned into HELL, a physical and mental HELL made to weed you out because WE DON'T want you and we did not force you to enlist, 4 months at the farm or 13-weeks at Marine Corps Boot Camp then a follow on 3-weeks at Infantry Training for ALL Marines, and finally on to X-weeks for your military specialty training. The latter applies to legionnaires post farm, ah the documentary made it look so simple at the REP doing fun things like jumping out of an airplane.
 

Hansenmann

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Capgros, what you say rings true. One may see a snippet of what it is like during the Farm and they see a Caporal Chef screaming or correcting an EV and they say to themselves, What FFL, Tough? I can handle that. The same see a Marine Corps documentary and watch a Marine Corps Drill Instructor(s) just stressing a recruit for a period of time and they say, man, the Marines aren't shit.

Then, they get to the farm or in the Marine Corps Case Boot Camp, and what they thought they could handle because of the five minutes they saw on TV evaporates and REALITY kicks in, NO, the Corporal Chef or the DI gut punches you back to reality. The stress you thought you could handle because of the five minutes has just turned into HELL, a physical and mental HELL made to weed you out because WE DON'T want you and we did not force you to enlist, 4 months at the farm or 13-weeks at Marine Corps Boot Camp then a follow on 3-weeks at Infantry Training for ALL Marines, and finally on to X-weeks for your military specialty training. The latter applies to Legionnaires post farm, ah the documentary made it look so simple at the REP doing fun things like jumping out of an airplane

Happens all the time, so many of my friends wanted to be officers, special forces or sergeants. 2 weeks of basic training later a lot of them couldn't wait to be civilian again. And this was the Danish army basic training which isn't nearly as bad as the Legion or the Marine Corps.
 

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Can't wait to test myself in reality so I can tell my opinion on basic training process. Who knows? Maybe I will run home to mom after one week. ;)

I mean guys, don't get me wrong. Maybe I sound like big a mouth smart ass dickhead, but in reality I'm an humble person.
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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Capgros, what you say rings true. One may see a snippet of what it is like during the Farm and they see a caporal-chef screaming or correcting an EV and they say to themselves “What? FFL tough? I can handle that.â€￾ The same see a Marine Corps documentary and watch a Marine Corps Drill Instructor(s) just stressing a recruit for a period of time and they say, man, the Marines aren't shit.

Then, they get to the farm or in the Marine Corps Case Boot Camp, and what they thought they could handle because of the five minutes they saw on TV evaporates and REALITY kicks in, NO, the caporal-chef or the DI gut punches you back to reality. The stress you thought you could handle because of the five minutes has just turned into HELL, a physical and mental HELL made to weed you out because WE DON'T want you and we did not force you to enlist, 4 months at the farm or 13-weeks at Marine Corps Boot Camp then a follow on 3-weeks at Infantry Training for ALL Marines, and finally on to X-weeks for your military specialty training. The latter applies to legionnaires post farm, ah the documentary made it look so simple at the REP doing fun things like jumping out of an airplane.
USMCRET, you have about summoned it up. Watching a documentary at home, or worse with a few friends, doesn't reflect reality. With friends you will be telling them that it doesn't look that hard as you grab another beer. Documentaries, like you say, condense months of basic training into 45 minutes. What it doesn't show is the guard walking around the farm at two in the morning and only thinking about sleep and food. Oh, and asking himself if he can handle that life four another 4 years and 10 months.
When instruction is over, you will not be sent on leave for a little R&R, you will be sent to your regiment. And when you get there you will be the new guy. No point in going into detail of being the new guy in the section means. When leave time comes around you can go anywhere in France. Which is nothing like going back to your family and friends. I remember being on leave at New year's eve in a place called Tour de Carole, on the Andorra border. All the pubs shut and I was stuck in my hotel room on my own. I can't see anyone making a documentary about that.
 
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Headings like “Tougher than the restÂâ€￾ are purely there as an advertisement to find a would be viewer. I refer people interested in training to read the ‘GreenÂ’ Duke Paerson's post Dt. 5th July 2010-16.57 hrs and his subsequent follow-ups. He joined the RM in 1967. I do however take issue with him that he completed his commando course at the age of 16. He certainly did not. He possibly joined as a Junior Marine and until 17 it was still regarded as ‘boy serviceÂ’. I gently asked him about this but never received an answer. And sadly he has discontinued to post. We all make the odd mistake and it is of little consequence since he was a fully qualified RM Cdo prior to enlisting in the Legion.
Training differs with all units. It is the end result which counts.

Happens all the time, so many of my friends wanted to be officers, special forces or sergeants. 2 weeks of basic training later a lot of them couldn't wait to be civilian again. And this was the Danish army basic training which isn't nearly as bad as the Legion or the Marine Corps.
Then they should not go. It is damn simple you must have the 'want factor'. That is why we say 99% need not apply. What you write indicates LMF.
 

Hansenmann

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Then they should not go. It is damn simple you must have the 'want factor'. That is why we say 99% need not apply. What you write indicates LMF.
Yeah, most of them probably watched too many movies or played too many video games. That's one of the good things about our national service, it's an eyeopener for many young people. So a selection pretty much happens during those 4 months, either some conscripts realize the Army isn't for them or the army realize that the conscripts just are fit for the Army.
 

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So if someone doesn't play video games he is good candidate for army? Good luck in finding that one these days.

95% (probably more) of candidates played video games. Today that doesn't mean shit ( I have to be rude).

I know what you guys thinking. Aye, there's a lot of kids which think that war is similar to video games, but do not underestimate the whole generation just because they play video games.

As always there would be some good and some bad soldiers among them.

I'm not so young, I'm generation in between so, I understood you older guys to. Knowing kids this days I can agree with your concerns about new recruits. They really missing some crucial skills for good soldier which you learn as a child.

But I'm pretty sure that warrior's gene is buried deep in most of us and we do not need much to awake that . We fight wars for hundred of thousand years. Do you really think that can be erased in 2 generations? I don't think so.
 
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So if someone doesn't play video games he is good candidate for army? Good luck in finding that one these days.

95% (probably more) of candidates played video games. Today that doesn't mean shit ( I have to be rude).

I know what you guys thinking. Aye, there's a lot of kids which think that war is similar to video games, but do not underestimate the whole generation just because they play video games.

As always there would be some good and some bad soldiers among them.

I'm not so young, I'm generation in between so, I understood you older guys to. Knowing kids this days I can agree with your concerns about new recruits. They really missing some crucial skills for good soldier which you learn as a child.

But I'm pretty sure that warrior's gene is buried deep in most of us and we do not need much to awake that . We fight wars for hundred of thousand years. Do you really think that can be erased in 2 generations? I don't think so.

Warrior's gene? Interesting.
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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So if someone doesn't play video games he is good candidate for army? Good luck in finding that one these days.

95% (probably more) of candidates played video games. Today that doesn't mean shit ( I have to be rude).

I know what you guys thinking. Aye, there's a lot of kids which think that war is similar to video games, but do not underestimate the whole generation just because they play video games.

As always there would be some good and some bad soldiers among them.

I'm not so young, I'm generation in between so, I understood you older guys to. Knowing kids this days I can agree with your concerns about new recruits. They really missing some crucial skills for good soldier which you learn as a child.

But I'm pretty sure that warrior's gene is buried deep in most of us and we do not need much to awake that . We fight wars for hundred of thousand years. Do you really think that can be erased in 2 generations? I don't think so.
Dusaboss old buddy, I don't think that anyone will ask a candidate if he plays video games. Personally I can't see anything wrong with it, I suppose it's like all of us coming to Cervens on a regular basis. You enjoy it and it passes the time. As long as playing video games does not lead to being a ‘no-lifer’. I mean if you get in from work and just sit in front of the x-box for hours, you are not going to have much character are you? And the Legion is looking for character.

If you can mix the video game times with something else, fine. I've said this before but why not go in for civilian races or join an orienteering club. At least you are out and getting fresh air and exercising. You might even meet a sporty bird, invite her back for level 7 of super Mario Bros. As long as someone doesn't turn up at Aubagne as white as a ghost during summer because he's stuck in his room all weekend. And of course video games can lead to addiction, which can lead to withdrawal symptoms.

Video games are part of our times, just to be consumed in moderation is all.
 

Hansenmann

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So if someone doesn't play video games he is good candidate for army? Good luck in finding that one these days.

95% (probably more) of candidates played video games. Today that doesn't mean shit ( I have to be rude).

I know what you guys thinking. Aye, there's a lot of kids which think that war is similar to video games, but do not underestimate the whole generation just because they play video games.

As always there would be some good and some bad soldiers among them.

I'm not so young, I'm generation in between so, I understood you older guys to. Knowing kids this days I can agree with your concerns about new recruits. They really missing some crucial skills for good soldier which you learn as a child.

But I'm pretty sure that warrior's gene is buried deep in most of us and we do not need much to awake that . We fight wars for hundred of thousand years. Do you really think that can be erased in 2 generations? I don't think so.

Nothing wrong with playing video games man, I agree like every young man does it nowadays. I'm just saying, some guys do have a mixed up view of the military because they played too many shooter games.
I know for a fact that some of my old sergeants even played video games lol.
In fact, the guardroom at my barracks had a Playstation and TV set up for the troops who are standing guard.
 

dusaboss

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Warrior's gene? Interesting.

Don't take it literally. There is no exact gene which controls that. It's called innate behavior. behavioral patterns which can be awakened in most of as (especially males) in right conditions. There was a lot of fighting in human evolutionary history.
 

dusaboss

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Dusaboss old buddy, I don't think that anyone will ask a candidate if he plays video games. Personally I can't see anything wrong with it, I suppose it's like all of us coming to cervens on a regular basis. You enjoy it and it passes the time. As long as playing video games does not lead to being a 'no-life'er. I mean if you get in from work and just sit in front of the x-box for hours, you are not going to have much charachter are you? And the legion is looking for charchter.

If you can mix the video game times with something else, fine. I've said this before but why not go in for civilian races or join an orienteering club. At least you are out and getting fresh air and exercising. You might even meet a sporty bird, invite her back for level 7 of super Mario Bros.
As long as someone dosen't turn up at Aubagne as white as a ghost during summer because he's stuck in his room all weekend. And of course video games can lead to addiction, which can lead to withdrawal symptoms.

Video games are part of our times, just to be consumed in moderation is all.

Ye, I see how that could be a problem. Video games are addictive and can consume most of your time. In one period of my life I used to play games for 10 hours straight. Today I get bored after 20 mins
 

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One of the cadre who was one of the recurring characters was another English, a NCO and platoon commander with 20 years seniority in the Legion, Adjudant Raubenheimer. He clearly said that, being able to speak (reasonably) good French was important if a legionnaire wanted to progress. To help them, he said he made a point talking in French to all the legionnaires in his platoon, even the English speakers. He also criticized one of his men, a Slovak, for not making enough efforts in improving his French, in particular because he spent all his free time with his fellow countrymen talking their native language. The Adjudant basically said, even if the legionnaire had potential, not speaking good enough French was a clear hinderance to his career..
I watched this documentary, and thought it one of the best that I have seen. One of the problems with making a documentary is that you can either white wash the difficulties of training, or make it look so bad that you wonder how anyone could survive. One thing that I took away from this and others, is that all things being equal, the French speaking recruit will have a major advantage over the non-francophone. As an outsider looking in I would advise a potential recruit, who already meets the physical and medical standards, to spend any extra time you have in learning French.

Bon courage mes amis,
Tom
 

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One thing that I would add: This is the French Foreign Legion, which is part of the French Army. And that is part of the French Ministry of Defence, a part of the French government. And all of these are part of French culture. Your officers are going to be Frenchmen who went to French schools. They have a French way of looking at the world. To better understand it I would suggest two books: Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong and The Bonjour Effect. Both are by Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoît Nadeau. You are not just joining a new army, but a whole new universe with its own language and way of looking at things. You are becoming a new cog in a giant machine called la France !

Bon courage mes amis,
Tom
 

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I watched this documentary, and thought it one of the best that I have seen. One of the problems with making a documentary is that you can either white wash the difficulties of training, or make it look so bad that you wonder how anyone could survive. One thing that I took away from this and others, is that all things being equal, the French speaking recruit will have a major advantage over the non-francophone. As an outsider looking in I would advise a potential recruit, who already meets the physical and medical standards, to spend any extra time you have in learning French.

Bon courage mes amis,
Tom

Hi Tom, there is an advantage for the French speaker as far as the language goes, but that is where it ends. The old saying of no bad students only bad instructors comes to mind. I remember as a young corporal in Castel sitting in on a lecture on fire security. The Sgt who gave it had to give the lesson to every section of EVs in the regiment. It was of course spread out over a few days. By the time he got us he was just repeating his speech in a toneless monlogue using technical words I had never heard of without bothering to explain them. I had to nudge one of the recruits with my boot to wake him up.
The worst part of it was, at the end he asks if anyone had any questions.

But you are right and I've said this so many times I feel like the fire safety Sgt : As English is the language on Cervens, French is the language of the Legion. When trying to communicate with a Chinaman who doesn't speak English using hand signals and other gestures may get the message through. But try doing that over the radio.
 

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One thing that I would add: This is the French Foreign Legion, which is part of the French Army. And that is part of the French Ministry of Defence, a part of the French government. And all of these are part of French culture. Your officers are going to be Frenchmen who went to French schools. They have a French way of looking at the world. To better understand it I would suggest two books: Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong and The Bonjour Effect. Both are by Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoît Nadeau. You are not just joining a new army, but a whole new universe with its own language and way of looking at things. You are becoming a new cog in a giant machine called la France !


Bon courage mes amis,
Tom
That's a good point. This difference in culture is part of ‘shock’ foreign volunteers will feel when joining the Legion. This shouldn't be underestimated.
 

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I don't believe in stereotypes, but man thay are fun. :) Is it true that French are arrogant? Rapace are you arrogant? :)

This one is good. About Norwegian emotions.View attachment 5819
 

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Don't take it literally. There is no exact gene which controls that. It's called innate behavior. behavioral patterns which can be awakened in most of as (especially males) in right conditions. There was a lot of fighting in human evolutionary history.

Of course there is! But its not just one. There is the one called "MAOA" gene, but scientists are studying others variables like exposure to violence and others genes. They associated this gene with agressive behavior, for criminal profiles too. its like the "fight or flee" behavior, some people will likely fight everytime in danger situations. But you dont know until you are in a danger place like a violent community or at war huh?
 
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