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France

French Foreign Legion

Web Sites

Foreign Legion - Tale Of Two Legionniares - an essay by By Edward L. Bimberg on the Legion during WWII.

Home Page of the 13th Demi-Brigade, French Foreign Legion

The Casablanca Affair, 1908-9.

French Foreign Légion Amicale Online

Overview

Enlistment Procedures:

The first contract is for five years

To enlist in the French Foreign Legion, all volunteers must present themselves in any recruiting office in France. Travel costs and the eventual obtention of a visa are borne by the candidate and no help whatsoever can be accorded by the French Foreign Legion.

If successful, after preliminary medical check-ups, the candidate will be transferred to the selection center of the Legion Headquarters in Aubagne (15 kms from Marseille) where he will undergo medical, IQ and physical fitness tests.

If the candidate is successful in passing the selection, he will be asked to sign a five years unconditional contract to serve wherever the French Foreign Legion needs him.

The unsuccessful candidate is immediately returned to civilian life to rejoin his country of origin without any financial aid.

The Initial Contract

For four months the young legionnaire will receive a basic military instruction at the 4th Foreign Regiment located in Castelnaudary after which, he will be posted to a regiment, depending on his capabilities and the needs of the French Foreign Legion.

Promotion through the ranks will depend upon his physical capacities as well as his IQ, service record and leadership abilities

After three years of service, a legionnaire can ask for the French nationality and may also be entitled to a French resident permit if he has obtained a certificate of satisfactory military service. The resident permit is valid for ten years and is renewable. At the end of his career the legionnaire is assisted in his return to civilian life.

An elite soldier, the legionnaire can specialize in or improve his different skills in mortars, missiles or as a diver sniper or paratrooper and can obtain a qualification in one of these following branches :

	Administrative department: Secretarial, accounts,
	Signals: radio or mechanic-exchange operator, telephonist
	Transportation: Light vehicle, HGV 1 and 2 or tracked vehicle driver,
	Engineers: heavy equipment operator,
	Building trades: bricklayer, plumber, electrician, carpenter, painter, etc...,
	Maintenance: mechanic, car electrician, welder, car painter,
	Others: musician, medical assistant, cook, photographer, printer, sports instructor, computer operator.

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