kkillert0fu
Active Member
I'd like to ask a question, and I'm hoping some of you can answer this beyond the typical “La Légion has been around for 500 years and defeated Napoleon, this will not be its end” type of response.
Could this possibly spell the end for the French Foreign Legion as we have come to know it?
Even if in a few weeks this all blows over, and everybody kind of just goes "lol jk, we're back to normal now, 2020 huh?", there will still be severe long term repercussions of this. Now, given that that scenario isn't likely, the longer this continues, the more severe those long term repercussions will be. A major evaluation of many western economic, political, and social systems will likely be the dominant conversation for a while. Especially as the generation X-ers and millennials steadily replaces the old guard that has been running the show for the last four decades.
In a time like this, I can only imagine how most Americans would feel about even a small portion of our Army being comprised primarily of foreigners who can literally just show up, try out, and be admitted in. It very well could have been something supported by the majority of Americans for a time, but after a major global pandemic like this, that's something that would be top priority on the list of programs to cut out of the budget. Even if it was a historically famous unit like the FFL, a line would need to be drawn at some point. It's the 2020s, not the 1920s.
And not that a similar legion would be totally disbanded overnight. Just that, as new legislation passes, no new members would be allowed, and current members would likely be relegated to bottom of the barrel tasks until they all serve out their contracts. That, or they can request to be integrated into the regular Army on a case by case basis, but even at that, would still be relegated to less than desirable jobs. And over a period of time, that legion style program withers away. This is all theoretically speaking.
Is it at all possible for the French Foreign Legion to suffer that kind of fate?
I know this has been asked before, but what is the overall sentiment in regards to the FFL by the French population? Is it supported? Needed? Respected? Or are they just viewed as some low grade auxiliary unit comprised of misfit foreigners?
And as a result of this pandemic, even if they continue to accept foreigners for the foreseeable future, can somebody still expect to serve out their time as an actual soldier, and not just the French Army's busboy in a soldier's uniform? I get that there's a bit of a gamble anyway in joining the FFL in terms of what job you actually end up doing, everybody who joins knows that. But I feel like this whole pandemic situation could relegate them to a much lesser status than they are in now.
Again, I'm not saying this is definitely going to happen to the FFL. I'm just looking at it from how Americans would likely look at something similar, even if it had been well respected in the past, and wondering if the same thing would happen.
Thanks for any replies to this.
Could this possibly spell the end for the French Foreign Legion as we have come to know it?
Even if in a few weeks this all blows over, and everybody kind of just goes "lol jk, we're back to normal now, 2020 huh?", there will still be severe long term repercussions of this. Now, given that that scenario isn't likely, the longer this continues, the more severe those long term repercussions will be. A major evaluation of many western economic, political, and social systems will likely be the dominant conversation for a while. Especially as the generation X-ers and millennials steadily replaces the old guard that has been running the show for the last four decades.
In a time like this, I can only imagine how most Americans would feel about even a small portion of our Army being comprised primarily of foreigners who can literally just show up, try out, and be admitted in. It very well could have been something supported by the majority of Americans for a time, but after a major global pandemic like this, that's something that would be top priority on the list of programs to cut out of the budget. Even if it was a historically famous unit like the FFL, a line would need to be drawn at some point. It's the 2020s, not the 1920s.
And not that a similar legion would be totally disbanded overnight. Just that, as new legislation passes, no new members would be allowed, and current members would likely be relegated to bottom of the barrel tasks until they all serve out their contracts. That, or they can request to be integrated into the regular Army on a case by case basis, but even at that, would still be relegated to less than desirable jobs. And over a period of time, that legion style program withers away. This is all theoretically speaking.
Is it at all possible for the French Foreign Legion to suffer that kind of fate?
I know this has been asked before, but what is the overall sentiment in regards to the FFL by the French population? Is it supported? Needed? Respected? Or are they just viewed as some low grade auxiliary unit comprised of misfit foreigners?
And as a result of this pandemic, even if they continue to accept foreigners for the foreseeable future, can somebody still expect to serve out their time as an actual soldier, and not just the French Army's busboy in a soldier's uniform? I get that there's a bit of a gamble anyway in joining the FFL in terms of what job you actually end up doing, everybody who joins knows that. But I feel like this whole pandemic situation could relegate them to a much lesser status than they are in now.
Again, I'm not saying this is definitely going to happen to the FFL. I'm just looking at it from how Americans would likely look at something similar, even if it had been well respected in the past, and wondering if the same thing would happen.
Thanks for any replies to this.