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Having a serving girlfriend ...

Surfguy

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Was wondering if legionnaires get to meet serving female French Army/Navy/Air Force personnel and have relationships ? Is it allowed, encouraged, banned ?
 
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Drawing on memories from 4+ months ago now. Still feels like yesterday. I can still remember basically everything.

There was a 6'6+ Slavic legionnaire who was seriously wounded. He chatted to me whilst he was relaxing with his girl in the sun. I'm fairly sure his girl was French. Another legionnaire sitting in the chow hall swiping on Tinder while we were waiting for the caporal-chef. A retiring legionnaire was with his daughter and wife at the retirement event. Female nurses/medical staff had rings. Commandant girl also had a ring. The caporal-chef showed me his instagram/Facebook, wife and kids and countries he visited.

Probably most military wife-husband are in regular French military rather than Legion. Remember all women in Legion are seconded from the “regular” army. Adverts on TIM (Terre Information Magazine) and Képi blanc magazine had several adverts for Armée de Terre with women and tags like "mother, wife, soldier" with mentions of time off and assistance in family for serving parents.

Not sure about allowed, encouraged, or banned. Was a guy in our wave rejected after they found out he was married and had doubts. Dating in military is awkward in modern times. Good way to get a scandal or get demoted. France is no exception.

Will you meet them? Depends. With Tinder and internet anything can happen.
 

Surfguy

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So it appears it's unusual for legionnaires to have a relationship with French servicewomen. I wonder if that's down to lack of opportunity or the Legion's reputation in the French services. A shame really as it would allow legionnaires some stability and to get a better perspective of French culture and life in France.
 

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Probably down to lack of opportunity, would be my guess. There almost certainly no more than a handful of female French regulars assigned to Legion posts at any given time. I'd imagine, too, that of that small number, most are probably sous-officiers or higher. Women in general tend not to slum around with men of lower rank/social standing, and most legionnaires are junior enlisted-men. And unless the French version of HRC (Human Resources Command) is completely daft, they're probably not going to assign some pretty 19 year old Transmetteuse 2e Classe to Camp Larzac for her first duty station.

As far as stability/insight into French culture goes, female French civilians can fill that role just as well, are far more numerous, and spare one the potential drama associated with “mixing business with pleasure”/“'sh$tting where you eat.”

Personally, and for a number of reasons, military chicks fall into the same category as single mom's and strippers: dated a couple when I was young and stupid, but never again.
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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I can give you three examples that I know of. One a South African working in the1 RE. Was in the 3 REI, REP before ending up there.

The other the president of the Cchs in the REP, a Belgian and the 3rd an English guy who I work in Mali with and got me the job because we were in the same company in the REP.
 

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I can give you three examples that I know of. One a South African working in the1 RE. Was in the 3 REI, REP before ending up there.

The other the president of the Cchs in the REP, a Belgian and the 3rd an English guy who I work in Mali with and got me the job because we were in the same company in the REP.
Joe, just for clarity's sake: that's 3 legionnaires who married specifically French female soldiers, and not simply French nationals, right?
 
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That is correct, otherwise the figure would be way higher.
Did you ever hear about anyone sh@gging an officer’s wife? I mean Pad sh@gging always goes on. I remember a guy I knew was banging a REME attached guy’s wife (was not an officer). The REME guy found out & tried to run him over in camp with a mini-bus... :ROFLMAO: I was on guard that night & we locked him up. Not sure what happened to him. Normally anyone doing Pad sh@gging was posted out quickly. Was also a Sgt who was doing the RSM’s wife. The details that came out were very graphic... He was quickly posted !
I should explain the word “Pad” means a married soldier in the Army. There were a couple of guys married unaccompanied, but most had married quarters as I did. Also remember when I lived on a married estate in Enger near Herford Germany we had a bar on the estate. One night we were playing darts & whoever got the bulls eye was going to take a certain wife into the toilets. The sad thing was her husband must have known. He was in the bar, was drunk then left her. I never got the bull’s eye...lol. Was also the stories about wife swapping.
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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Did you ever hear about anyone sh@gging an officer’s wife? I mean Pad sh@gging always goes on. (...)
If I remember correctly there is a rule against “courting” an officer and a rank and file in the Brit army.
In the French military it is/used to be considered an act of homosexuality for two people in uniform to to kiss.
 
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Even man & woman Joe? I wrote this before but I remember I caught two female soldiers at it... lol.
 

Crawdad

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Did you ever hear about anyone sh@gging an officer’s wife? (...)
No... But I knew a guy who once impersonated an officer in an attempt to pick up a Sergeant's wife. It did not end well.
As a young Private in Korea, I got to see my Company Commander get handcuffed and hauled away by the MPs. Apparently, homeboy had been fooling around on his wife with 20+ different enlisted women. He was Court Martialed and convicted on 23 counts of Conduct unbecoming, Adultery, Sodomy, Fraternization, Providing Alcohol to a Minor, and I think one count of Sexual Assault. They nuked this guy. I think he's still in Leavenworth, making big ones into little ones.
You're correct about Adultery being frigging rampant in the Army. There's an old soldier's tale about GI wives in Germany hanging either a broom or a mop on the clothesline. Which was supposedly a code that her husband was in the field and she was looking for gentleman callers.
The War on Terror made a bad situation worse; you had multiple Brigades stationed at the same post, but on different deployment cycles. So 2nd BDE, 25th ID, let's say, deploys in 2010, leaving a lot of wives on post. 3rd Brigade remains behind. So now we have a lot of bored, lonely housewives living in close proximity to a few thousands young men in their sexual prime. Yeah, Bad Juju.
 
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(...) There's an old soldier's tale about GI wives in Germany hanging either a broom or a mop on the clothesline. Which was supposedly a code that her husband was in the field and she was looking for gentleman callers. (...)
Yup, there was a similar thing with the British wives. It was a box of washing powder in the window... Haha forget the name of it now.
 

Crawdad

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If I remember correctly there is a rule against “courting” an officer and a rank and file in the Brit army.
Same with us. Article 134 of the UCMJ, “Fraternization”. Max punishment is dismissal from the service, forfeiture of all pay and benifits, and 2 years in the clink.

In the French military it is/used to be considered an act of homosexuality for two people in uniform to kiss.
That's hilarious. So back in the day: when she's in uniform, she's technically a dude. Oh, the French...🤷‍♂️

Yup there was a similar thing with the British wives. It was a box of washing powder in the window... Haha forget the name of it now.
See, that's way more discrete. If Tommy came home and found washing powder on the sill, Missus Atkins could say she was just cleaning up around the house. A broom inexplicably hung on a clothesline, by contrast...
 
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See, that's way more discrete. If Tommy came home and found washing powder on the sill, Missus Atkins could say she was just cleaning up around the house.
OMO, that was the fecker...
 

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Of course they do. Met an American Cpl Chef medic who was dating a female French Soldier, I think she was in a parachute regiment, maybe as a nurse. They couldn't meet a lot but she wasn't the first woman in uniform he had dated if I remember right. There are no rules against it.
 
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Of course they do. Met an American Cpl Chef medic who was dating a female French Soldier, I think she was in a parachute regiment, maybe as a nurse. They couldn't meet a lot but she wasn't the first woman in uniform he had dated if I remember right. There are no rules against it.
Cool Story Nick 😆
 

Surfguy

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If I remember correctly there is a rule against 'courting' and officer and a rank and file. in the Brit army.
In the French military it i/used to be considered an act of homosexuality for two people in uniform to to kiss.
I dont think there would be anything gay about kissing this para...

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or her...
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I`d tell this one to get a new hat....
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A serious one..
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Medic...
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Crawdad

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Yeah, the Chasseurs Alpins hats are kind of silly. A shame, too, because reportedly those dudes (and dudettes, apparently) are nails. Seems like a lot of Mountain troops don't quite have the international renown that Marines, Paras/Airborne, and other crack infantry formations (Rangers, the Legion, the Black Watch) do.
For instance, most of you probably know the USMC; many of you have heard of the 82nd and 101st Airborne; I'd wager few know who the 10th Mountain are.
Same with me. I know who the Royal Marines are, and the Parachute regiment... But I have no idea who the UK's premier Mountain Warfare guys are. The Highlander's, maybe?
Back to the hats, though; the Brodie helmet isn't particularly fearsome or tough looking by itself, but the guys who wore them by and large were. And now the 'iron derby' is an iconic symbol. So I suspect that if the Chasseurs Alpins had a bit more fame or notoriety, you'd see other units wearing pizza hats, too.
 
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