Bonjour from Tiwaz

[Tiwaz]

Bonjour everyone,

I am Tiwaz, 23 years old and from Germany. After silently reading and following this forum for a while, I decided to finally register. As most people here I want to join the French Foreign Legion. My plan is to go in Winter 2019/2020 and dedicate the next 1 1/2 years to get as fit as possible, learn French and further educate myself.

For my motivation, I am one of those pesky western "idealists". I have no financial or criminal problem that would make the Legion my last resort (kind of ironic that this will probably be my biggest problem ^^), but I want to be a soldier and I really like the Legion, its traditions and its spirit. I also want action and to take part in OPEX, which is why my further goal, if I will be accepted in the Legion, would be to either join the 2e REP or the 2e REI. I know that a lot of the public image of the Foreign Legion is blown out of proportion through PR and the many myths about it and that the normal day will largely consist of rather uninteresting work and boredom, just like in any other army, but every myth has its true core and if I, as a German, want to serve in a military that sees combat and is not too afraid to also do some offensive operations, that respects its traditions, that is not trying to win over women for combat units who would inevitably change the performance and dynamic of the group and that still has some balls and toughness, there just is no other possibility than the Foreign Legion. Now I "only" have to pass the requirements and most importantly find a way how to show the interviewers that I am dedicated and would never desert.
So I hope for a great and productive time on the forum and some nice conversations. Until then...

Best regards
Tiwaz

 

[Le petit caporal]

Hi Tiwaz, and welcome

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Hi Tiwaz, a big welcome to the forum. One and half years to get yourself fit at 23? Unless there is something else holding you up, it seems a bit of a waste, but it's your choice. Good idea to learn French and being next to France compared to ,say South America, you could make the trip and try out your language skills.

Make sure that you train on a regular basis. Otherwise you might end up putting it off until the next month.

 

[SnafuSmite]

Welcome to the forum mate.

 

[Chas]

Tiwaz,,

Welcome to the forum. Do not procrastinate. The longer you wait the less likely you are to join. So 'Carpe Diem'.

Simply 'Go for it."

I did but won't bore you with details except to say that I was trained by former WW2 Cdos and have the T Shirt.

 

[Rapace]

Well... As you probably know, there's a long tradition of Germans in la Légion étrangère / Fremdenlegion and not just after WW2, as many believe. So, welcome and hope you'll make it. As others said, unless there are some things that really prevent you from doing otherwise, bring the plan forward 1 year, if you can, and go next winter. 6 months are enough to get in reasonably good shape and learn basic French.

 

[Tiwaz]

Thank you all for your welcome!

Regarding the time plan: Thank you for your tips to go earlier! If it was only for the training and language aspects, I would definitely go this winter, but there are a few things I want to sort out before I go and maybe will not be able to see Germany again for a lot of years (or possibly even never again), like some personal stuff and for example doing at least the national service here (I think that is the least I owe to my own nation before I go and serve an other country). So this winter will most likely not work out, but I would like to go in the winter months because I think I will be an edge candidate because of my backstory and so I have to use everything that is not cheating and pushes the odds a little bit into the right direction ^^. So the earliest available would be winter 2019 although it depends, If everything is done and I feel well prepared I will go in fall or even spring 2019, I just definitely want to avoid the summer.

 

[SnafuSmite]

Check out Thomas Gast on YouTube, he's a retired German Legionnaire, a lot of content in German as well. Joe C served with him in the Rep I believe.

 

[Tiwaz]

Yeah Thomast Gast is an awesome guy with an awesome channel. I discovered his channel a few weeks ago and then basically binge watched all his videos. A lot of great and in-depth stuff that you would otherwise only get through reading dedicated books, especially about the history and traditions of the Legion.