QUESTION Communications and hearing protection equipment (ear pieces) used by the French Foreign Legion

[Stellar Mella]

Hello everyone, my name is stellar. i want to ask in regards to the comms and hearing protection equipment sed by the Legion. the reason I'm asking is that I have cauliflower ears, an ear deformity caused by practicing/ training combat sports in particular Judo, Wrestling, and Jiujitsu. A couple of days ago I tried out for my country's armed forces (the Indonesian Navy) in an attempt to become a recon marine. However, I was disqualified only because of my cauliflower ears (everything else was fine) despite having normal hearing. It sucked but whatever. The Indonesian Police and Armed Forces Medical book clearly wrote that cauliflower ears are an immediate disqualifier (stakes 4). So anyways, recently I read the translation of the French military sigycop. In the part about ears and hearing, it read "as long as the hearing is fine". In the British and American manuals, it wrote "as long as the hearing is fine and doesn't interfere with the use of military communications and hearing protection equipment". Therefore I would like to ask any members who had this same kind of experience and does the cauliflower ears affect the use/wearing of comms and hearing protection gear. I would also like to ask what communications gear that the Legion uses. Any answers and suggestions are appreciated. Thank you. I also attached pictures of my ears below

 

[Rapace]

Interesting point. Never heard that this could be an issue in any military, but I've learnt something. As far as I know, communication headphones used in the French army are more like “over-the-ear” which is not an incompatible with cauliflower ears. Moreover, unless you're a Signal specialist in the Legion, it shouldn't be a concern at all in the first place. Same thing for hearing protection. Only an “educated guess” from my part though.

 

[sexpert]

(...) As far as I know, communication headphones used in the French army are more like “over-the-ear” which is not an incompatible with cauliflower ears. (...)

Same when I was a Radio OP in the Brit army. Used Phones too in the field. If a driver you'll have secure Headsets too. No probs.
... and wear your battle scars with pride bro

 

[Stellar Mella]

yeah thank you sir for the reply, too bad i can't serve in my country's military due having ugly ears. unfortunately it's not that popular in Indonesia so people that i meet constantly ask me what happened to my ears.

Same when I was a Radio OP in the Brit army. Used Phones too in the field. If a driver you'll have secure Headsets too. No probs.
... and wear your battle scars with pride bro

 

[sexpert]

yeah thank you sir for the reply, too bad i can't serve in my country's military due having ugly ears. unfortunately it's not that popular in Indonesia so people that i meet constantly ask me what happened to my ears.

I can´t say 100% but i think the Legion will be OK with it if they want you. Plus you´ll get to do BJJ in your Regiment , how cool is that ?

 

[Stellar Mella]

thanks for the reply sir. there's a couple of strange requirements in order to join the Indonesian armed forces and police for instance tattoos of any kind, piercing, and scars that are larger than ""cm are an immediate disqualifier. same goes with cauliflower ears and ears that aren't shaped perfectly. I guess they're looking for people who look good. other than that there used to be a virginity test for the women (you can google this up) however it has been stopped after complaints from human and women's rights groups. there are three ways a citizen can join the military/ police. 1st through tamtama (enlisted) after basic training you are assigned with the lowest rank (prada which is the equivalent of private), then you have bintara in which after basic you'll get the rank of Serda or Sergeant 2nd class, then you have the officer recruitment/ perwira in which candidates can either enter the academy straight after highschool (candidates must major in the sciences program) or through PAPK which is the Indonesian equivalent of the American OCS/ ROTC which the recruit college grads. The cut out age for tamtama, bintara and perwira (academy) is 22 yrs (which is also bizarre since it is quite too young), for college graduates it's 27/28. So recently, the Navy and the Police started recruiting college/ university graduates with a diploma/ bachelors for bintara in which the maximum age limit is 26 in which I immediately signed up for since the odds of getting into a combat unit and seeing action (particularly the low intensity conflicts happening in Poso and Papua) was more favorable than going the PAPK route. unfortunately I got disqualified during the 1st medical test on the basis of cosmetics.

Interesting point. Never heard that this could be an issue in any military, but I've learnt something. As far as I know, communication headphones used in the French army are more like “over-the-ear” which is not an incompatible with cauliflower ears. Moreover, unless you're a Signal specialist in the Legion, it shouldn't be a concern at all in the first place. Same thing for hearing protection. Only an “educated guess” from my part though.

 

[Stellar Mella]

I can´t say 100% but i think the Legion will be OK with it if they want you. Plus you´ll get to do BJJ in your Regiment , how cool is that ?

That would be a dream job, training tactics and doing professional soldier stuffs throughout the day and doing combat sports at night

 

[sexpert]

That would be a dream job, training tactics and doing professional soldier stuffs throughout the day and doing combat sports at night

If you have the energy No but seriously they have so many people with skills, Brasilien guys.. Etc. Saw a Video of 2Rep, Definetly have martial arts. Grappling.. Etc.

 

[dusaboss]

other than that there used to be a virginity test for the women from

That crazy. What is reasoning behind that?

I wonder if they test them after service and got same results.

 

[voltigeur]

so people that i meet constantly ask me what happened to my ears.

You could reply:
At birth, the doctor pulled me out by my ears.

 

[Stellar Mella]

That crazy. What is reasoning behind that?

I wonder if they test them after service and got same results.

No idea, guess it's a cultural thing, same with the tattoos and piercings. Here in Indonesia, people that have them are often seen as thugs although it has changed in some progressive parts of Indonesia

 

[Stellar Mella]

You could reply:
At birth, the doctor pulled me out by my ears.

hahaha, actually a chick asked me in college of what happened I answered it's an indicator of having a big c@ck, the next day she didn't want to talk to me anymore

 

[Stellar Mella]

about the virginity test

Indonesia: No End to Abusive ‘Virginity Tests’

Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo should order Indonesia’s police chief and armed forces commander to immediately ban so-called “virginity tests” of female applicants. These tests are degrading and discriminatory, and they harm women’s equal access to important job opportunities.

www.hrw.org

Indonesia urged to end discriminatory virginity test for female security force applicants - National - The Jakarta Post

New York based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to order the chiefs of the National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) to immediately ban virginity test's for female applicants, saying the practice is a form of gender based violence.

www.thejakartapost.com

 

[sexpert]

You could reply:
At birth, the doctor pulled me out by my ears.

now that was funny Tanky

 

[Stellar Mella]

That crazy. What is reasoning behind that?

I wonder if they test them after service and got same results.

but man, the police chicks in Indonesia, especially in the bigger cities are smokin hot, well you can find 1 or 2 that aren't, but the majority of em are 8/10, they even included it in their requirements (berpenampilan menarik or in other words good looking)

 

[Stellar Mella]

If you have the energy No but seriously they have so many people with skills, Brasilien guys.. Etc. Saw a Video of 2Rep, Definetly have martial arts. Grappling.. Etc.

saw that video before, lot of brazilian jj dudes

 

[sexpert]

but man, the police chicks in Indonesia, especially in the bigger cities are smokin hot, well you can find 1 or 2 that aren't, but the majority of em are 8/10, they even included it in their requirements (berpenampilan menarik or in other words good looking)

so it´s like a "Honey trap"..trust them then get taken down the jail.

 

[Stellar Mella]

so it´s like a "Honey trap"..trust them then get taken down the jail.

yeah probably, but mostly in my opinion it's just PR

 

[sexpert]

No idea, guess it's a cultural thing, same with the tattoos and piercings. Here in Indonesia, people that have them are often seen as thugs although it has changed in some progressive parts of Indonesia

was like that in the UK up untill the middle 90s. I remember when i was a kid if you had an ear ring in the right ear you was a homo. In the 80s..but now no one cares.

 

[Stellar Mella]

not to mention the administration requirements, a lot of candidates were disqualified because of the lack of paperwork, you atleast need like a total of 5-6 copies of each file just to be safe, and there are approximately 8-10 files that you need to include in order to sign up. and for guys that are from the outer islands they are pretty much f@cked if the dont have a file with them