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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 08:52 PM
Honestly this sort of was bugging me for a while now, but I guess it came back to my head when I was in the RVF chat today. I'm considering just skipping college and just joining the French Foreign Legion. I want to major in engineering and just live it easy travelling abroad, but I don't think conventional work satisfies me as much as a running business or the possibility of adventure. Also the college is going to be debt free if I decide to go as I'm not taking out any loans due to parental support as well as scholarships I've earned. What are some of the thoughts the rest of RVF has on this? Are the benefits worth it to leave life in the States behind or would it be much better for my future goals to just go to college(planning to live in Russia eventually and if I don't join the Legion to learn Japanese and head there right after working for a year or two out of college. I really have a desire to live there and enjoy the country, but it doesn't have to happen)? Either way I get to travel and gain more from the world, but right now I'm just looking towards what I want to do with my life.
Side note: I already know quite a bit of conversational French so finishing it up as a requirement for the Legion shouldn't be too hard.
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 08:58 PM
Met a guy in Thailand who was in it, told me some pretty crazy stuff about being in Haiti and some of the war torn countries in Africa. If that is your idea of adventure then you should go all in. If not, just stick with school.
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 08:59 PM
Maybe I'm just crazy, but I say do it. I did the opposite, I went to college for engineering, got a tech sales job, and I'm not happy with it. And I got the debt to boot. I thought about the legion too but let my parents talk me out of it at the time. Reminds me of Roosh's post about what he'd tell the teenage version of himself if he could travel back and give him the advice he'd accured throughout his life up to this point. I'm the future you. I say legion. Life is really short (31 and I can't believe how fast it's going by) and being overly cautious is no way to live. Even if you don't do the legion, do something else that won't result in you working in a cube. Good luck.
PS, now you got me thinking about enlisting...
Civilize the mind but make savage the body.
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 09:05 PM
Quote: (05-26-2014 09:02 PM)hwuzhere Wrote:
Quote: (05-26-2014 08:58 PM)Big Country Wrote:
Met a guy in Thailand who was in it, told me some pretty crazy stuff about being in Haiti and some of the war torn countries in Africa. If that is your idea of adventure then you should go all in. If not, just stick with school.
I don't know if I'll be satisfied in the States or working that average joe life. I hate the work I do already, and this seems like a perfect way out. I'll just be sacrificing a lot to take part in this opportunity. I can otherwise just live comfortably as an engineer, and work abroad too. I just don't know if I should just choose the comfortable lifestyle where I'll be maintaining the relationships I've made or giving it all up for adventure as well as completely living for myself but not with as much mobility to later go on to live comfortably in places like Scandinavia or Japan where I wouldn't find work in such a profession if join the legion.
Private Military Contractors are on the rise. I could see the legion being a hell of a resume builder for that. And they're in many countries. And yes, you won't be satisfied with the average joe life. If you're questioning it now, it won't get better.
Civilize the mind but make savage the body.
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 09:06 PM
Bear Grylls did a documentary a while ago where a few British guys were sent to Morocco and basically had to undergo training similar to what recruits into the French Foreign Legion go through... not sure how authentic it was as I haven't been in the Legion myself, but the trainers were ex-legionnaires apparently. Might be worth watching.
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 09:12 PM
Quote: (05-26-2014 09:10 PM)hwuzhere Wrote:
Quote: (05-26-2014 09:05 PM)nek Wrote:
Quote: (05-26-2014 09:02 PM)hwuzhere Wrote:
Quote: (05-26-2014 08:58 PM)Big Country Wrote:
Met a guy in Thailand who was in it, told me some pretty crazy stuff about being in Haiti and some of the war torn countries in Africa. If that is your idea of adventure then you should go all in. If not, just stick with school.
I don't know if I'll be satisfied in the States or working that average joe life. I hate the work I do already, and this seems like a perfect way out. I'll just be sacrificing a lot to take part in this opportunity. I can otherwise just live comfortably as an engineer, and work abroad too. I just don't know if I should just choose the comfortable lifestyle where I'll be maintaining the relationships I've made or giving it all up for adventure as well as completely living for myself but not with as much mobility to later go on to live comfortably in places like Scandinavia or Japan where I wouldn't find work in such a profession if join the legion.
Private Military Contractors are on the rise. I could see the legion being a hell of a resume builder for that. And they're in many countries. And yes, you won't be satisfied with the average joe life. If you're questioning it now, it won't get better.
Living like an average joe in the States is not even part of my plan. At the bare minimum I'm becoming an expatriate, but should I go the extra mile and just skip the college and go into a more exciting lifestyle. Also some tips on getting my body in shape for such a choice? I'm in good shape, but I'm still skinny just very toned. What would be a good way to build muscle?
Their motto is "march or die". From what I understand, you'll need muscular endurance more than anything. Bodyweight exercises and running (push-ups and pull ups). I looked into this a little bit when I was 18 (even the vision requirements as I have shitty vision).
Civilize the mind but make savage the body.
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 09:12 PM
I researched it extensively when my resigning period was around in the army reserves. My final decision was that I wish I knew about the legion earlier, but I would be wasting time already invested if I dropped out of school and the us military. Do it because you'll be paid nicely(high monthly pay in one of the world's highest valued currencies) and trained to be one of the toughest regular army soldiers on the planet.
The downsides are that the legion is almost always deployed to a remote, forward location. They live by strict rules even determining leave, car ownership and marriage. They are trained rigorously and often brutally. You body will be punished. You have to have a strong, resilient mind beforehand. Work on the mind, body and French. You should rank in a timely manner. Good luck
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 09:14 PM
Guy I met was absolutely jacked. If you go that route you'll be trained hard. As a bonus the Thai ladies absolutely loved him, well, more so than the average Westerner.
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 09:16 PM
Think of opportunity cost. You'd be living a regimented, completely controlled life for 5 prime years of your youth, and for what? For all you know you may never even see action. You'd basically be giving up everything for the possibility of brief periods of excitement. There are more efficacious ways to find adventure than joining a military force.
If you're really set on doing something crazy, go for a 1 month trip to the Central African Republic and you'll probably see as much if not more crazy shit than you would in 5 years stationed at some sleepy French village. And you'll only be out 1 month of your life, not 5 years.
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 09:18 PM
I've heard that a lot of thugs join the French Legion, the kind of people who have nothing else to look forward to and may be wanted for crimes in their countries. As a US citizen looking for military experience, why not just join the Army or Navy? Maybe do some research and pick the most elite part of it you can get into?
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 09:28 PM
If you think you have the body for it, and the idea of going without sex for long periods of time, then go for it. You will come out stronger than you went in.
However, you could just skip college and use those same 5 years with your own self-descipline and teach yourself a valuable skill like programming or whatnot, and seek out a normal job as well.
There is also the risk that you could join but not learn any useful skills and be stuck without a job after you complete your tour of duty.
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 09:29 PM
You probably do Hwuz. Your goal entering the legion should be to make corporal in the first couple years. NCO's are allowed to own cars and given some privilege of leave. First year enlistees aren't even given leave. They offer 4by5 enlistments at the minimum. Your goal should be to save all your pay or gain French citizenship, possibly both. Supposedly they don't even want you if you don't seem to be interested in a career with them(lie up front about this).
After I finish paramedic school I'm thinking about getting in on that Canadian oil money a thread here was dedicated to. Join me up there if you can't find anything more satisfying. That job promises some excitement to it, obviously more pay and flexibility.
As I get older I realize the two biggest let downs in my own regard were not finding flexible work and not finding work that paid well enough to allow flexibility.
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 09:49 PM
I have a friend who was married in college then divorced before gaining his degree in engineering. He enjoys regularly shitting on people lives on social networks by showing them how nice he's living. I'll have to ask him how he got there.
I can understand your desire for military work, namely combat. Unfortunately the Legion is mainly tasked out on rainforest gold smugglers and civilian extractions in militarized, francophone, African nations. Not very 'glorious', but dangerous work.
You really only know if military life is right for you until after you're in it. As Samseau said, you'll go without sex for extended periods. The greatest gain you take away from the Legion is that you'll leave with a steeled body and immensely resilient mind. That's why I encouraged it.
•If your looking for end means rather than the experience itself, don't let yourself down. Find something more appealing•
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 10:02 PM
Why do you want to learn Japanese?
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French Foreign Legion
05-26-2014, 10:12 PM
Man, go be a trooper if it's what you really want. I may be crazy enough to think that being around 'thugs' is a learning advantage in its own sense. The dry spell will be enforced on you so even if it bothers you, you'll become disciplined regardless. It's true that they hold high regards in mercenary openings after you retire. Just because you won't have a marketable skill after you leave service doesn't mean you can't swindle something great out of that situation. I was raised by poor, uninformed parents which made the us army sound like a good investment. The time demands of being reserves has cockblocked a lot of other plans I wanted to pursue and to work the benefits like I wanted to I had to search hard and over years. In complete honesty, I ended up back at my parents house last year after I fell for a sociopathic roommates sob story when everything was smooth before. That's how I realized how close to the poverty line I've been living at that the military in the states is bullshit for building a future on. Make the choices you want and follow through brother