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So I am finishing collage and I want to join French Foreign Legion, but my concern is what I gonna do when I come back? Will it be hard to adapt? Like lots of thing will change in 5 years. I will probably forget lots of stuff that I learned. Thanks for sharing experiences.
Why the FFL? Have you done your due diligence and detail research and know what you are getting into, or are you seeing the romanticized scenes on the TV and in the movies? O.K., I had to ask that hard question because it is important, but in answer to your question; After being gone for five years there has been a great change to what you left. Some people can adjust easily, some over time, but some never. The big problem we find in such situations is returning from five years of strict regimentation and told every move to make, to a world where we have to make our own decisions, and follow a different set of rules that can be very arbitrary.
A perfect example is G.I.s coming back from Afghanistan after only one year. Too many simply cannot readjust and suffer horribly and cause the same suffering for their families.
I went to join once.
I was drinking like a fish and did not like myself at all.
I didn't know that it's common to have to "knock on the door three times."
You knock on the door at one garrison, and it's typical they will interview you, then turn you away. So you go to another. The third time, they grab you and pull you in.
One size does not fit all in life.
You want to do this? Then go for it.
Don't worry about adapting. You're going to be forgetting what you learned in five years anyway.
Think about what you'll learn ... what you'll gain.
You'll be fluent in French.
You'll forever have a ticket "in" to French society.
The training is tougher than the Marines.
You'll be one of the most unique people on the planet.
The women and wine!
You'll be young enough to do whatever you want
If you do three tours, you'll have a French Passport and name.
College just shows you can complete a goal. You're still not a "professional" until you are hired and learn your trade.
There may be government agencies that will recruit you
Get it out of your system.
Do NOT commit atrocities. (This goes for any military branch you join.)
There's a ton of talk about PTSD... but little or no talk about Moral Trauma. The vets we couldn't get out of the doorways after Vietnam were most often guys who'd done things they were forever ashame of.
I went to join once.
[*]You'll be young enough to do whatever you want[*]If you do three tours, you'll have a French Passport and name.[*]College just shows you can complete a goal. You're still not a "professional" until you are hired and learn your trade. [*]There may be government agencies that will recruit you[/list]
Don't base this or any decision on fear.
About the government agencies. For example you want to get to FBI, or CIA, or something like that. You still have to go through normal application. What I mean is that you would have to go through every step as somebody who was no if FFL? Or you can kind of skip it?
Also, I am not very sure, but I don't think you can write letter, right? Like to your family or friend. No "outer world communication" type of army?
This is the site I usually recommend: French Foreign Legion Information (I assume you don't speak French so I wont link French language sites).
The following pages i've linked will probably prove to be the most useful, Links especially. It has forums you can visit to read what others have found when they left and will give you a chance to talk to ex-Legionnaires. Though please, don't ask any questions until you've done some research and learned some facts rather than a selection of rumours, you'll be ignored at best.
About the government agencies. For example you want to get to FBI, or CIA, or something like that. You still have to go through normal application. What I mean is that you would have to go through every step as somebody who was no if FFL? Or you can kind of skip it?
You'll still have to apply and go through the same hiring process and training as everyone else. Keep in mind that the CIA is primarily an intelligence agency. The FBI is law enforcement. I don't know that the skills you obtain in the French Foreign Legion are really going to prepare you to do either. Perhaps on the intel side somewhat, but for law enforcement, I don't think so.
Caveat: I have never served in the FFL. However, I was a Marine, and the Marine Corps. taught me almost nothing about being a cop.
With the push to hire veterans in federal government, the FFL is not going to help you there, either, because vet preferences are reserved for U.S. veterans.
Well I didn't get in the IDF. They rejected for religious reasons( Christians not allowed). So anyone thinking bout joining u gotta be an atheist jew or religious in Judaism. The Internet lies. Then I went to France and got into the FFL. One hell of an experience. Took me bout 4 years of trying to join a military to eventually get here.. IQ test wasnt too hard. I squinted on the eye test and barely passed according to the doc. I know now that getting in mostly has to do with your attitude. You have to work hard for 2 weeks in aubagne doing real s#$t work. But u gotta have the attitude. At least that's what I think. Honestly they selected a bunch of guys who ended up deserting and rejected some fit candidates. So im not sure how they go about with selection. Almost random. And after there will be lots of corvee(an example is cleaning toilets). Corvee every day. But all in all its a great experience. And they will take anyone with glasses. My eyesight now is 20/400. In dioptres it's -6 or more in each eye. Thats -12 total. So I already passed the -10 limit. So glasses arent a problem at all. Thanks to all for the responses and info in the past.
Well I didn't get in the IDF. They rejected for religious reasons( Christians not allowed). So anyone thinking bout joining u gotta be an atheist jew or religious in Judaism. The Internet lies. Then I went to France and got into the FFL. One hell of an experience. Took me bout 4 years of trying to join a military to eventually get here.. IQ test wasnt too hard. I squinted on the eye test and barely passed according to the doc. I know now that getting in mostly has to do with your attitude. You have to work hard for 2 weeks in aubagne doing real s#$t work. But u gotta have the attitude. At least that's what I think. Honestly they selected a bunch of guys who ended up deserting and rejected some fit candidates. So im not sure how they go about with selection. Almost random. And after there will be lots of corvee(an example is cleaning toilets). Corvee every day. But all in all its a great experience. And they will take anyone with glasses. My eyesight now is 20/400. In dioptres it's -6 or more in each eye. Thats -12 total. So I already passed the -10 limit. So glasses arent a problem at all. Thanks to all for the responses and info in the past.
But you said (post #12 from 2011!) that your mother was Jewish ... which makes you Jewish. Unless you converted to Christianity and then tried to join the IDF?
Correct. Jewish cause my mother's Jewish. Jewish by blood. Which is why atheist Jews can join. I'm Jewish but I don't practice Judaism. People confuse the two. A person is Jewish if there mother is. It has to do with family and blood. Another way to join is to convert to Judaism. That's Jewish by religion. I was rejected cause
I'm Christian and somewhere in the Law of return it states that a Jew who changes religion cannot become a citizen and return to Israel. Being an atheist I guess isn't changing religion in their view.
Correct. Jewish cause my mother's Jewish. Jewish by blood. Which is why atheist Jews can join. I'm Jewish but I don't practice Judaism. People confuse the two. A person is Jewish if there mother is. It has to do with family and blood. Another way to join is to convert to Judaism. That's Jewish by religion. I was rejected cause
I'm Christian and somewhere in the Law of return it states that a Jew who changes religion cannot become a citizen and return to Israel. Being an atheist I guess isn't changing religion in their view.
I didn't confuse the two; I didn't see anywhere where you said you had converted (I may very well have missed it, but in post #12 you just said your mother was Jewish -- nothing about you having converted to something else later). THAT is why you were rejected, which makes sense.
BTW, thanks for your updates -- so few people come back and tell us what happened to them!
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Adventure
