French forces in Sahel. (AFR, join, platoon, military)

[Mr Blue Sky]

BBC News - On a French patrol against jihadi fighters from Libya

2 sections (US platoons) from my company leave tomorrow evening to join them and with them go I. My postings may well be a touch sporadic for a while.

[Quiettimect]

I noticed you have your location listed as Corsica. Are you in the legion etrangere?

In any event be safe on your mission and Godspeed.

[WIHS2006]

Accomplish the mission and stay safe!

[Quiettimect]

Mr. Blue Sky,

I realize you might be a bit preoccupied at the moment, but could you put down the Opinel and cheese for a minute and let us know how things are going.

Hope things are going well.

[Mr Blue Sky]

Originally Posted by Quiettimect

Mr. Blue Sky,

I realize you might be a bit preoccupied at the moment, but could you put down the Opinel and cheese for a minute and let us know how things are going.

Hope things are going well.

What would I give for some Bleu des Causses at the moment, sadly I'd probably be able to drink it. Soft dairy (or in fact most dairy) is generally best avoided unless in one of the main camps that have A/C.

I can tell you I'm in Chad at the moment as the information that my company is here has been reported in the French Media and confirmed by the Ministère de la Défense. I'll understandably be a little more circumspect with other details.

Operationally things are going well, we are doing unto 'them' things that they are not doing unto us.
We are finding all sorts of wonderful items on our wanderings, things that are evidently causing unhappiness and much gnashing of teeth in those that have lost them. Such a shame.... *cough*

I genuinely appreciate the interest and if I get other opportunities to pop a post on here (time at places with a stable internet connection is sporadic) I will.

[Quiettimect]

Thanks for the update................be safe.

[Mr Blue Sky]

I'm home now on rotational leave.

Everyone, so far, is safe and well apart from the usual issues one gets from spending (?)days on foot surrounded by sand.

[Mr Blue Sky]

In reference to this thread I thought some of you might be interested in this:

In early April, legionnaires from the 1st Company of the French Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) jumped over the Salvador Pass of northern Niger, on the Niger’s border with Libya and Algeria in the deep Sahara.
The Salvador Pass is an important crossroads for the drug and arms trafficking carried out, according to French officials, by radical islamist groups and local rebel/criminal gangs. The region is in the middle of nowhere in the heart of the Sahara near the Niger’s border with Libya and Algeria. The legionnaires from 2e REP have been conducting operations to search and eliminate the trafficking gangs and they have already spent several months in the region.
The military operation the legionnaires conducted was a night combat jump and the ground operation lasted one week, from April 7 till April 13. About 50 men from the 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment (1er Régiment de Hussards Parachutistes, 1er RHP), the French airborne cavalry unit, together with 30 Nigerien troops also took part in the operation. However, they did not make the operational jump.
For the 2e REP, it was the second combat jump accomplished in Africa as 2e Rep made a successful jump over Timbuctu (Mali) in 2013.

[in French, unsurprisingly, but it doesn't affect the viewing]


[I had to make so many grammatical alterations I've felt it necessary to remove the 'quote' from this article].

[Quiettimect]

Glad to see you are back and safe. Your post is greatly appreciated by those of us who, at this point, lead our lives vicariously through others


I saw your post and video and thought once you are an ancien you can write a fascinating book. Perhaps something along the lines of a modern day version of Simon Murray's "Legionaire."

Cheers

[Mr Blue Sky]

Originally Posted by Quiettimect

Glad to see you are back and safe. Your post is greatly appreciated by those of us who, at this point, lead our lives vicariously through others

Thank you.

I saw your post and video and thought once you are an ancien you can write a fascinating book. Perhaps something along the lines of a modern day version of Simon Murray's "Legionaire."

I'm not of a literary bent in all honesty and there are enough books by ex-legionnaire's. Anyway, back to the sand this evening for a days re-acclimatisation and then the merry-go-round starts again.