Hello I am 25 years old I love the FFL and the Mystery and brotherhood as well as the warrior atmosphere of the FFL. I want to join very much so just have to get a passport and a ticket over there going next year want to try my luck.
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- Thread starter Wayness
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Wayness,
Welcome to the forum.
Pay attention to those in Green for they have served and know the answers.
Tradition and heritage are all part of the Legion. As for warrior atmosphere that is
where your dream comes undone. There will be much boredom and the occasional
excitement and call to arms.
Welcome to the forum.
Pay attention to those in Green for they have served and know the answers.
Tradition and heritage are all part of the Legion. As for warrior atmosphere that is
where your dream comes undone. There will be much boredom and the occasional
excitement and call to arms.
Hi Wayness and welcome to the forum.
Did you perhaps, per chance, read the forum's Miranda warning?
Did you perhaps, per chance, read the forum's Miranda warning?
It is after all Friday, and let's not forget What is happening on the 28th
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Papillon
Legionnaire
Hello, well we are getting to the end of 2021 so next year will soon be here, you don’t want to be rushing off anyplace and missing out on Christmas. All the best 2022 and meeting those warriors, never seen myself as that more risk taker!
Papillon
Legionnaire
That’s quite amusing Joe
Going to send it to my Son in Law he is back stationed in the USA
Do many join at christmas ? I can't imagine much will happen recruiting wise.
Papillon
Legionnaire
To be honest I don’t no as only no how busy it was when I turned up also you loose track with external factors as just getting on with what I had to do to hang on in their!
Le petit caporal
Legionnaire
Best time to join up is at that Christmas thingy time, imo !
Over Chrimbo, you can expect to do a LOT of corvée. What with the preparations for the salles (the place where it is being held) and the crêches and then there is the dismantling of it all. The legion is on go slow over the Christmas period.
The only advantage that i can think of is that it does show that you have cut all ties with your previous life.
One of the disadvantages is that if you should have to go for an outside check up, such as an x-ray, you may find that the hospitals and clinics are also on go slow and will only take emergencies.
Another disadvantage is, although you will be paid (in Aubagne) for the time that you are there, it still does not mean when two Fridays have passed by, that you are accepted.
The only advantage that i can think of is that it does show that you have cut all ties with your previous life.
One of the disadvantages is that if you should have to go for an outside check up, such as an x-ray, you may find that the hospitals and clinics are also on go slow and will only take emergencies.
Another disadvantage is, although you will be paid (in Aubagne) for the time that you are there, it still does not mean when two Fridays have passed by, that you are accepted.
Do the men get at least a nice christmas dinner and Church Service?
Welcome
LPC what is the best time of year, in your opinion to join
LPC answered your question in the post you quoted ???
Joe has responded to that with the upsides and downsides.
Here's my sixpenceworth:
The best time to enlist is probably early February. The reason for this is (assuming you get through selection at Aubagne), you would arrive at Castel at the beginning of March when the days are getting longer and the average temperature is good for the physical stuff you'll be doing there in the early days.
Your instruction, including all the running. marching and field exercises will happen in a temperate climate before the summer really hits in July (it can get really hot down there in summer).
With longer days and a decent climate, not only will your body perform better, but your instructors will also probably be in a more "forgiving" frame of mind rather than in the depths of winter when nobody wants to be standing in the middle of a frosty field at 7am teaching idiots how to throw a grenade.
Inversely, doing a 40km raid march in the middle of August (30 degrees +) is no fun either and tempers can fray.
Putting physical constraints aside, there is also a very important thing called Le Cafard (a beetle that sort of burrows into your brain). We've all had it, and it's at it's worst in my opinion during the early days of Castel when all EVs are thinking "what the f@ck am I doing here?"
You won't understand the language, instructors are screaming gobbledygook at you, you're being taught songs you have no idea of the meaning of, you've got no idea what time of day or night it is or what time you are going to eat again. It's nothing like the life you left behind - and it can all get a bit depressing. That's Le Cafard.
You'll need to conquer that because it's real, and it can really f@ck your head.
Longer evenings and decent temperature will not make Le Cafard as bad. It's true to say as well that once you've done your kepi marche (4 to 5 weeks in during my time) and start to become a "proper Legionnaire" things change quite dramatically for the better psychologically speaking.
By the time you get your kepi you'll be starting to understand the language, you will have learned a number of Legion "chants" and be marching to them (just like in the YouTube videos), you will have learned how to disassemble, clean, and reassemble your weapon in under x minutes etc etc etc... All that in the first few weeks. It's a fast learning curve.
Just for the record: You may not notice it, but during your entire time there you will be watched and noted in order to make a decision on the regiment best suited to you. The physical tests and sport you do during the first week or two sets the benchmark. Some guys don't get much better than that, and others step up into another gear altogether. The difference between how you were when you arrived and how you are after 4 months training (physically and discipline wise) will generally determine where you get posted. There are no winners or losers. Some end up in the REP and others as cooks and bottle washers, but wherever you go it's what you are actually capable of doing, but you will always be a soldier and Legionnaire first and foremost.
Anyway - my opinion for what it's worth is aim to get to Castel in early spring to give yourself the best opportunity of performing to your physical best and suffer less from Le Cafard.
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Kronenberg,
Great post. As for Le Cafard it hits all in the Legion at certain times. Historically it related to Sahara. Africa etc.
When you are fed up, lonely, withdrawn, miserable and want to jack it in then it has to a question of mental resilience and the determination to stick it out. Crudely mind over matter.
It hits all RMs' at some time during training but of course not called Le Cafard
Yes they do but all are trained to fight.
I assume the cooks are para trained too?
Kronenberg,
Great post. As for Le Cafard it hits all in the Legion at certain times. Historically it related to Sahara. Africa etc.
When you are fed up, lonely, withdrawn, miserable and want to jack it in then it has to a question of mental resilience and the determination to stick it out. Crudely mind over matter.
It hits all RMs' at some time during training but of course not called Le Cafard
Yes - that sums it up Chas. It's about mental resilience in those tough moments.
Not so easy perhaps for today's snowflake generations where there's a telephone number for any type of "mental health" issue. In our days of course that didn't exist, you just got on with life in the knowledge it wouldn't last forever.
Thanks Kronenberg. Good information