Hi all

[Coinnach]

Hi all,

I am a newbie to the site and I am very glad I found it. This site is a wealth of information.

I am considering trying to enter the Legion. I maybe a little crazy as I would be 34 years old if I try for selection. I need to do a lot of work on my fitness and my French is a little rusty but the Legion is somewhere I have wanted to go since I was a 13 year old reading books on it and listening to my dad (he served 29 years in the Irish Army and fought against a few of the 1st REP who were mercenaries in the Congo). He held them in very high regard. Unfortunately life did a couple of uturns on me when I was younger and I never got to go when I wanted to. But now it seems the time maybe right for me - whether it is right for the Legion or not I guess time will tell.

I look forward to trying to work through all of the information here to help me decide what to do.

Thanks

Coinnach

 

[flash010]

What? Your dad killed legionnaires and you want to join the Legion? w.t.f. you'll fit in nicely. lol good to have you on board mate have fun

 

[Coinnach]

Thanks flash010 - glad to be aboard

 

[canard]

Nice to see a fellow Irishman on here. My old man was also in the Irish army. he was top shot in his reg, but never had anything as worrying as a repman in his sights. Nearest he got to a real target was probably a few sheep ( and I don't mean beau sheep)

 

[Coinnach]

Hi Canard,

My auld lad served in the Congo in '61 and in Cyprus in '65 - he was a tough old buzzard. A 5'2" 9.5 stone snarling angry little Company Sargeant - I'll tell you when I was growing up when he said jump I high jumped - the threat of a slap was enough to get things done.

 

[canard]

my dad was an officer, in the mid to late seventies, and I got a lot of stern lectures on order, tidiness, surface space, but he also taught me a few good things- how to wash cutlery in sand, how to shoot straight, tying knots, spit shine boots, how to box and how to get really wound up about nothing in particular!
He bitterly regrets not having stayed in, as one of his pals is a colonel now. when I ask him what his time in the army was like, he always says he would go back to it in a heartbeat- but ask him when he's had a few jars and its a different story. When I told him of my plans he told me that life as a private in any army is a dogs dinner and urged me to reconsider.
But as I'm sure you know, it takes more than that sort of thing to put you off your chosen path.

 

[Coinnach]

That was the same thing with my dad, he didn't want me to go in as a grunt so I had to try and enter as a cadet. Failed with eyesight the first year (got that corrected) and then failed the Irish interview the next year. I kind of drifted away from the military then. The father was in for 29 years, joined when he was 16, was an all Ireland amateur boxing champion and an all army champ too. He had to retire for health reasons but he missed it terribly - he wasn't the same after he left.

 

[canard]

yes, they're very fussy on the academic front as well, most people go into the army or navy with a fair few academic qualifications. It's a relatively small force too, so the numbers are never in your favour in terms of selection.