Until you can join the forum - Questions !

[Joseph Cosgrove]

No, she is not. Nearer home actually, I'll clarify once I get permission I've got to admit that I feel a bit guilty not having answered her mail for at least a week. But you know what it's like here on the forum, ask someone for a favor and there's no-one around.
Oh well never mind.

sorry I forgot to press the reply button

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

And forgot to say that I’m happy to write a brief conclusion for cervens forum of my son’s attempt to join As soon as I hear from him. I’m also curious to hear if this Covid thing has any different approach to the selection in any way.

He was quite lucky to enter France during this time, so I would interested to know if there were less candidates than usually and if so, does it make it any easier to get selected. Hopefully my son has answers to these once I hear from him. I’ll let you know.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

I would say that judging by the time your son has been through the gates coming up to two weeks? and the fact that he a basic understanding of French, he's as good as in. He'll have done his physical tests and his I.Q. tests and his first medical and dentist check. As long as he keeps his nose clean there should be no problem.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

This from SP:

This mail is regarding my boyfriend, who left for France to join the Legion in the month of February. He did not make any contacts with me until the 31st of May. He said that they were allowed to use phones only on weekends for half an hour to contact friends and family. My last conversation happened with him on the 14th of June. After that he hasn't made any contact with me until now.

Given your expertise of more than 17 years, I am presuming you can give a brief idea as to what could be wrong (or right). What regiment according to you could he possibly be in? When can he use a phone and contact me? When will he get a chance to visit his home? Is it possible to maintain this relationship until his contract gets over given such situations? I hope I did not take too much of your time.

Hoping for a reply and thanking you in anticipation.

Regards

 

[dusaboss]

This from SP:

This mail is regarding my boyfriend, who left for France to join the Legion in the month of February. He did not make any contacts with me until the 31st of May. He said that they were allowed to use phones only on weekends for half an hour to contact friends and family. My last conversation happened with him on the 14th of June. After that he hasn't made any contact with me until now.

Given your expertise of more than 17 years, I am presuming you can give a brief idea as to what could be wrong (or right). What regiment according to you could he possibly be in? When can he use a phone and contact me? When will he get a chance to visit his home? Is it possible to maintain this relationship until his contract gets over given such situations? I hope I did not take too much of your time.

Hoping for a reply and thanking you in anticipation.

Regards

Don't want to be cruel, but I think your boyfriend doesn't really want to be with you any more. God forgive me if I'm wrong.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Hi Dusa, I'm not too sure that that is what SP wants to hear. I'd say that for the moment it's a question of calculating the time that her boyfriend has been in.
He joined in February, and hopefully would have have started his basic training in March. March was the beginning of the Covid outbreak. He called SP on the 31st May, which is about right as he would have just gotten his kepi and they would be allowed to phone. We know from other legionnaires that it depends on their chef de section when they can phone. June 14th being a Sunday, he would have been on a quartier libre which means that he would be allowed out for the day and can telephone. Again it all depends on their chef de section when they can go out.
I'd say that now he is in his regiment and doing Section de March or his Promo. The Section de Marche depends on each regiment. It is where they will "hone down the metal to a fine point". Where they tell you :
"forget what you were taught in Castel [naudary] this is where you'll learn to be a real legionnaire".
Which of course makes one wonder why they were sent to Castel in the first place . He wouldn't be allowed to phone in that time. The same with the Promo, which is the REP (paratroopers). That lasts for roughly 2 to 3 weeks, in normal times. Although times are not normal.
The question is after basic training why he did not call you? There would be a couple of days before the Section de Marche or the Promo begins.
As for do I think that a relationship could last under such conditions? It depends on you two. I'm sure that he explained what joining the legion would entail before he left. One consolation is that he is in good hands.

Will he be able to get home before his five years are up. Yes. All that he has to do is go on an overseas tour. He'll make plenty of money and then when he comes back he will get at least two weeks off. He then goes to the consulate or the Embassy of his country and asks for an emergency passport. Believe me, nowadays it happens all the time.
I hope that that has reassured you a little more than my esteemed colleague Dusa's answer.
However, it has to work both ways. For your part, we expect you to let is know when he contacts you and any information that he can pass on about what selection was like etc.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Just in case anyone else is in the same boat as SP and HudsonHawk, where they have managed to fill in the application and are then told that they have to await the OK from the Admin or the Mods, there is a glitch in the system so you will have a long wait.
It's been over a year now.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

From SP,

Dear Sir,
Thank you very much for your detailed response. I will definitely drop a mail whenever I get a call from him. Until then, I wish you all the best with your[the] forum. You are [all] doing a great job.

Hi SP, if that message was meant for me, no point in calling me Sir, Joe will do just fine. If it was meant for Dusa...well that's a different matter.

 

[Le petit caporal]

Section de perfectionnement is now called the section de marche ?

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Section de perfectionnement is now called the section de marche ?

To be quite honest I'm not sure what it is called, so good point. I'll take your word for it.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

This from AP

Good Evening,

I've recently decided to join the FFL. I lurked on Cervens and Reddit for all the experiences I could find. The reason I want to join is I'm being discharged from the US Army for an incident involving alcohol, after 6 years of service. They're processing it as a medical discharge (it'll say mental) and I'm curious if I should mention it to the Legion at all? I feel like it'd make me look bad at selection but some say prior service is favored.

I am not crazy or anything like that. My CoC is doing me a favor making it medical so I'll retain most my benefits if not all of them. Avoiding a potential OTH. They knew I am a good soldier and I just reenlisted 6 more years, I'm not ready to give up my military career. I hope to just move forward into the legion and continue it.

Thanks for your help.

Perhaps some ex-US servicemen can help out? Is it normal to get a favor from your CoC (whatever that is) to get a mental discharge?
What does OTH stand for?
I'll ask this here hoping that he is reading this. How long have you got left to do and how old are you now? What period are you thinking of joining?
Without being too precise ! I really must stress this as we know that the forum is monitored. It's the mental discharge part that worries me.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Follow up from AP

Thank you for the response,

It is common for Chain of Command (CoC) to help out good guys. I did my job and excelled. Their hands are tied when it comes to separating me however. An Other Than Honorable (OTH) would severely limit my benefits so they initiated a medical board which will process me out with an Honorable.
The whole medical board process can take anywhere from 6 months to a year. Giving me plenty of time to adapt to the legions standards. I'm 23 years old.
Can you explain what you mean by period? If you mean when I plan to go, I want to leave as soon as I can. I don't have anything here and the Army was my life, if there's a chance for a second chance I'm not hesitating to jump on the opportunity.

I'll get back to in the afternoon, local time. I've just had two hours of having my head done in in Excel VBA

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Hi AP,
sorry about the delay. All that sounds quite feasible to me, although I'm not the one you have to convince. I'm sure of one thing though, it wasn't the first time that you had been done for drinking. I mean no-one gets discharged from the military for his first drinking offense.
I'm not here to belittle you in any way and as far as I'm concerned that that was in the past and you're looking to start over afresh.
So you've got a minimum wait of 6 months before you can join, use it well. Get yourself in tip top condition and learn as much French as you possibly can. Join a running club ( the legion is very big on running). Keep any certificates that you may get for having participated in cross country races or semi marathons or races for charity. At least that will be more convincing than telling the recruiters that you have stopped drinking and have spent the time getting yourself fit. Hopefully you can also impress them with a few sentences in French. Don't worry the interview will be in English.

Why I mentioned the French part is, that there are so many people who (used) to come on here and tell us that they have wanted to join the Legion since they were 15 and have had to wait until they have finished college or got their act together. When asked whether they can speak any French, the answer is no but they are going to start today (some even say tomorrow ) I mean it hasn't been a secret since that person was 15 that in the legion you have to speak French.
Keep in touch and perhaps you might like to choose a handle rather than us (me for the moment- where is everyone? ) referring to you as AP. Who knows the Boss may have gotten the glitch sorted by then.

 

[Crawdad]

A few minor points.

Upon being discharged, active-duty US servicemen receive a form called a DD-214; it's a "Certificate of release or discharge from active duty". AP, you already knew that. What you probably didn't know is that you'll actually get two versions of the same form; a Member 4 and a Member 1 (also known as the "short" and "long" forms of the 214). When you get them, compare the two, and it ought to be glaringly obvious which one to bring with you to France, and which one to have accidentally, kinda-sorta have misplaced if asked for it. 'Stuff happens', you dig? 'Till then, keep your nose clean-- or higher-higher will absolutely nail you to a cross, and won't say "Sorry".

Which leads me to my next point. Joseph, you're right that when a quality soldier steps on his crank, his leadership up to the company level will sometimes try to cover for him/soften the blow- so long as the incident in question can be kept hushed. But, if the soldier is caught by the MP's/ civilian police, there's no keeping it a secret from Battalion or Brigade. I'm sure the Legion is not all that different as far as that goes. Thing is, from time to time, the US Mil will adopt a zero tolerance policy towards certain offences (Typically Drunk Driving/Drunk on Duty, Drugs, and Domestic Violence-- The "3 D's", as one old Sergeant Major called them). This generally happens when the Army is told by Congress to reduce its numbers. The first thing the Army does, of course, is try to cull the Bananiers or dirtbags, so of course they start going nuclear on first-time offenders. This was the case in the late 90's, and again from 2012 to about 2017. Of course, there may still be some individual Battalion and Brigade commanders who still retain a zero-tolerance policy, even after that policy is no longer Army-wide; my take is that's what possibly happened here.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Not that anyone is calling you a dirtbag mate. As Crawdad points out you have a Short and Long, which I can only assume the Short is a summary of the Long. Do not be surprised if you are asked why you didn't bring along the long one. They will be used used to ex-US military going through, and the chances are that one of those who will interview you will be ex-US mil. If you are like me and not good at lying, practice doing a shrug of the shoulders and saying that you didn't think that it would matter, you've brought the proof that you have served and have left all thoughts of your old life behind.
There is no point trying to justify yourself on here, what is done is done.
Now go "Krav Mega those bitches up, bro".

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

This from SP:

Dear Joe,
My boyfriend called me on Sunday. He said he was in training and is going for another round of training for the next three weeks. So he will not have access to his mobile phone until then. He sounded fine and said he is getting all required facilities, although they get very little sleep.

I have responded to her to ask her boyfriend which regiment he's in.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

I received this from SP:

He is in the 2REI regiment

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Hi Joseph,

I've been stalking the forum for awhile now and understood there is an issue with new membership approvals. I did manage to register (as HudsonHawk) and it's now pending waiting for the moderator's approval. .
I understand you won't be answering questions via email which is more than understandable so I'm okay to have my question posted in the forum anonymously (I'm sure my son wouldn't approve if he knew his mum is stalking here )
Or if you do know parents/ladies in a similar situation (or other forums, groups etc) I'd be more than happy to hear from them. Or where else to look for some suport. I'm okay about having my email forwarded privately if someone asks but I don't want my real name or contact information to be published:

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My son is currently flying to France hoping to become a legionnaire and I, as a mum, am freaking out and have been trying to find if there are any other parents/girlfriends etc in a similar situation who to connect with. I saw that Ladies corner is quite quiet but if there are any parents in a similar situation it would be great to hear from the others somehow.

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Much appreciated if you have time to help out but no worries if not, I'm sure your inbox is packed!

Kind regards,

Hi HudsonHawk,

First of all allow me to apologize for taking so long to post this ( a week ) as I have been so busy with my own stuff I haven't gone on to my MS Outlook account for ages. There is nothing that we can do about the forum. The Boss has been contacted, although no response from him for the moment. I've even tried the "contact us" tab at the bottom of the Forum section.

Anyway back to your question. Your son will be alright, he's in good hands. There are a few people on here who are parents, I would be happy to pass on your coordinates to them if they contact me. I will be sure to check my Outlook account once a day I'll leave a message on here each time I do;
1. To keep the thread open
2. In case there are other people in the same boat as yourself.

So Alain, if you are out there and looking in (which I'm sure that you are) , you may be gone as the Loustic of the Forum and the Night Jumper in your head, but you are not forgotten.
In the meantime if anyone wants to give HudsonHawk some reassurance feel free to do so.

I also contacted HudsonHawl to ask if she had any news from her son. She says that she has heard nothing from him, which is good news. As I told her they usually kick out those that they don't think will make it (or for some other reason) on a Friday. It's been over 3 weeks now, I'm quite confident that that he's in.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

This from O B:

Hello,

Was hoping to ask this question in the forum but as you have written there are problems with joining.

I know that the initial contract is 5 years, but what about contracts after that? Do they come in shorter time periods or do you have to sign for another 5 years?

Thanks.

This is a question that anyone can help O.B. with.

 

[Tom Juvenez]

This from O B:

Hello,

Was hoping to ask this question in the forum but as you have written there are problems with joining.

I know that the initial contract is 5 years, but what about contracts after that? Do they come in shorter time periods or do you have to sign for another 5 years?

Thanks.

This is a question that anyone can help O.B. with.

They can come in shorter time periods. So for example if you had made Caporal atleast Caporol, you may be given the the opportunity to become an NCO near your five year mark but you will need to sign in for another three years bringing you're new contract to eight years. Depending on the situation, you may get the opportunity to sign shorter contract extensions in order to do certain things...if you havnt made Caporal by your five year, you might not get offered to extend from what I've heard, that would mean you're a sh$tstick.