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The French connection

USMCRET

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Hi Perun,

Thank you for your thoughtful response. As a younger man I spent a good deal of my time living in Catholic and Orthodox monestaries, while pilgrimaging around Europe's Holy Shrines. It's a beautiful way of life, but not what I want at the moment. Right now I want to do reconnaissance and be trained as a scout/sniper. I want mountain, jungle, and ocean training. Maybe after 11 or 12 years in the Legion, I will revisit the possibility of becoming a monk, but I see my own calling to serve God within the Legion. As the Chatechism states, peace is not merely the absence of war, and again, Heaven is a state of being. I truly wish to serve France as Joan of Arc did, and if my blood is spilled in the process, so be it.

Warmest regards
A few weeks back our Archdioceses anointed a new priest, Father is in his very early 70s. The interesting part is that Father was a Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sergeant, highest possible enlisted rank and is equivalent to a Sergeants Major, MGySgt's stay in their occupation while SgtMaj's become administrative, he retired at 30 years. He became a Deacon and then he is now a Priest.
 

USMCRET

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Galgano,

I would leave out anything that might attain be connected to religion when you are in Aubagne, especially while you are being interviewed. Just keep it all to yourself unless you are specifically asked, then give brief specific answers.
Joe is right, never give them the information not asked for, it is a form of selection suicide.
 

maim

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Galgano, be the gray man, listen, don't talk, lead by example, be honest, be humble, keep your responses succinct, remember your lies.....

Worked for me.

I reckon there are a few more on this board that can add to this list, it is not exhaustive, however the above worked for me.

BTW when I was 16 I had a choice, study theology and become a chaplain, join the Rhodesian Light Infantry or go to Welbeck.

I'll always wonder.

One path led to the Legion.

Good luck.

Safe.

M.
 
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Hi Perun,

Thank you for your thoughtful response. As a younger man I spent a good deal of my time living in Catholic and Orthodox monestaries, while pilgrimaging around Europe's Holy Shrines. It's a beautiful way of life, but not what I want at the moment. Right now I want to do reconnaissance and be trained as a scout/sniper. I want mountain, jungle, and ocean training. Maybe after 11 or 12 years in the Legion, I will revisit the possibility of becoming a monk, but I see my own calling to serve God within the Legion. As the Chatechism states, peace is not merely the absence of war, and again, Heaven is a state of being. I truly wish to serve France as Joan of Arc did, and if my blood is spilled in the process, so be it.

Warmest regards
Galgano,

An interesting response to Perun. At least in the Legion you will learn some fine marching songs, not however as good as Gregorian chants if you are deeply religious. Like Saul on the road to Damascus you appear to have had a cathartic experience/ Damascene conversion. In days of yore you would have been considering the Knight Templars.

As a young man I attended a school which until the dissolution of the monasteries was Franciscan and we inherited the Priory, refectory and chapel. It also had a military ethos which appealed to me.

Get in to the FFL and then apply to become a Scout Sniper. I was a 'Gravel Belly' constantly firing various weapons from a prone position. With other positions as well.

Recce work requires skill, navigation/map reading, shooting, camouflage, fire and movement, observation, information gathering and great patience, just to mention but a few. I completed such a course many moons ago.

Good luck.
 
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Onward, Christian soldier.....Saint Cyr, awaits you!
St, Cyr - No.

With his ideals he may be officer material but he would need with humility to serve in the ranks to understand working at that level in the Legion.

After all Jesus wanted, above all to take care of the 'poor and needy'.
 

maim

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Did I mention "remember your lies" times have changed the Gestapo is now a police interview, not getting de trousered and having a ruler shoved up yer bum cos the c/c thought you were gay and wanted to see how much you could take. circa 1982
BTW I am not lying or exaggerating, ask any other dudes that were in Aubagne from around June '82, getting shot at for walking on a certain path by Lichterfeld, LOL, brilliant bloke, bought me an alarm clock in Djibouti! Long story.
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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Hi Galgano,

let me remind that you I will not delete any threads. why I mention this is because when I opened up the cervens tab this morning, I have two reports. One from you asking me to delete this thread, which I won't - basically if you start a thread, in your case with a sword in a rock- than you assume.
The other was concerning your A to Z post. It is flagged as SPAM. I have a bunch of options:
  • Delete spammer's threads
  • Delete spammer's messages
  • Delete conversations by spammer
  • Ban spammer
  • Check spammer's IPs

  • To be quite honest I don't know what to do, it is the first I have come up against that. The last one I did when you first applied, I'll just have to consult with Voltigeur and take it from there. For sure I don't like leaving a report going unresolved.
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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Did I mention "remember your lies" times have changed the Gestapo is now a police interview, not getting de trousered and having a ruler shoved up yer bum cos the c/c thought you were gay and wanted to see how much you could take. circa 1982
BTW I am not lying or exaggerating, ask any other dudes that were in Aubagne from around June '82, getting shot at for walking on a certain path by Lichterfeld, LOL, brilliant bloke, bought me an alarm clock in Djibouti! Long story.
Did you know that Lichterfeld's son joined up? The aller still exists but the name is no longer there.
Just for the record, I joined in May '84, so the ruler doesn't concern me :cool:
 

maim

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I was sorry to see the architect of Lichterfeldstrasse had passed away, I hope his son is half the man he was. the 13 was a Regiment once upon a time when we had guys like Lichterfeld and Esteve, I told you Esteve was in Mali at the same time as me, we used to meet up at the weekends for dinner at his house and BBQ's at mine when I held pool parrties, v gd, best offr I've ever had the pleasure of serving.
 
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Did I mention "remember your lies" times have changed the Gestapo is now a police interview, not getting de trousered and having a ruler shoved up yer bum cos the c/c thought you were gay and wanted to see how much you could take. circa 1982
BTW I am not lying or exaggerating, ask any other dudes that were in Aubagne from around June '82, getting shot at for walking on a certain path by Lichterfeld, LOL, brilliant bloke, bought me an alarm clock in Djibouti! Long story.
Oh my God ! Don´t get me wrong as a Nurse i have had to extract objects from mens rectums :censored:
 

Le petit caporal

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Litcherfields son was sent to 2 REI
Litcherfields was Officier de Sécurité (O.S.) at 2 R.E.I.
Did 80 days taule under him
Never got the ruler test...but a T.GV. cabin !
 
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In the US, how long does it take in the ranks to qualify as a Mustang ?

I spent just over 28 months in the ranks before being pinged by a Royal Marines Sgt. Major, who then had words with my Coy Cdr.

Wonders will never cease and to this day I will never understand the system. I believe there were others just as good as me who never got a look in.

I lost my family in WW2 and was adopted by a non military family, with the exception of my adopted grandfather, who in WW1 served with the RFC. He always said he flew as ballast as an observer.
 

maim

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OK Disparate subjects.

On Rowallan Coy in 1980 there was a Cpl from RTR who had been in 7 yrs from a kiddy recruit. Passed RC went through RMAS SC and was a 2nd Lt, a "mustang" NOT a QMS, totally diff, those guys went through Vic Coll at the time.

Lichterfeld was also the Off Sec in 13 DBLE when I was there hence the alarm clock story.

Sklenak, who was a complete using b'strd ended up as the Off Sec in Nimes, did I tell you I was the model for the Legionnaire painting in The salle d'honneure at Nimes? NO shit, when we got back from Beirut the Legion artist, ex Auschwitz, detainee not employee, did a portrait of the back of my head as if I was on stag. Go figure. Stay safe all, M
 

maim

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Shirly, just a by the by, during basic at Castel I landed awkwardly on the under over obstacle. The following morning my scrotum had turned black and swollen to a size that I was unable to fasten the zip of my tenue reglementaire to go sick. So I presented to the Med Off , fat German, small glasses, Mengeles apprentice, who threw me into the ambulance and drove me to the Mil Hosp Toulouse. The following morning I was on all fours with a male Drs hand in my bum when I heard laughing. A group of nurses were at the door taking immense enjoyment watching a French Dr fist a Legionnaire.
Unimpressed, the fact that I ended up marrying a nurse may have a Freudian basis!
 
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