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French Foreign Legion / Légion étrangère

As of 2009 a total strength of 7699 men was made up of 413 officers, 1741 N.C.O.S. and 5545 legionnaires divided into 11 regimental formations. The discipline enforced in the French foreign Legion is exactly the same as that of the French Regular Army. However, traditions of an elite force allow enforcement of this discipline with a greater rigor. A tradition of excellence and selection criteria surpasses the Regular Army.

Since its founding in 1831, the Legion has become the one place of escape for those with haunted pasts. Initially, men with criminal records, shady business dealings, or deserters from their home country's armies were accepted into the ranks, with no questions asked. In the past, the Legion was very relaxed about who could join, so it could be a way for those with a complicated history to restart their lives and seek anonymity. There is no link between the court system and the Legion so, people are not offered a stint in the Legion as an alternative to prison. Today, it does not take those with a record of very serious crimes such as “murder, drug trafficking or terrorism”. Those who had minor scrapes with the law are acceptable—even preferred—as they are assumed to be more willing to turn their backs on their former lives. French police and intelligence services will conduct a background check to determine whether the applicant has any criminal history. The Legion used to accept anyone — criminals and misfits especially — with no questions, but now there is a thorough screening process. A legionnaire of foreign nationality can ask for French nationality after three years service. He must have been through "military regularization of situation" and be serving under his real name. He must no longer have problems with the authorities, and he must have served with "honour and fidelity" for at last three years. French nationality cannot be granted under declared identity.

The “anonymat” still helps the new légionnaires to forget their past. The "declared identity" exists to keep everyone on a level footing. Those who need anonymity and those who don't. This provision was initiated to benefit all those who join the Legion because they want to forget their past and "turn over a new leaf". It still exists, even if the vast majority of Legion candidates nowadays have no particular problems and investigation techniques permit as to eliminate any "undesirable elements". A procedure known as "Military regularization of situation" which can be used by any legionnaire after one year's service, they take up their old identity. It is useful for those who have no particular problems outside the Legion. Fresh identity papers must be obtained from the legionnaires original country. A legionnaire, if he so wishes, can spend his entire career under "declared identity".

The French Foreign Legion inherited the traditions of foreign troops who have served France since the Middle Ages. Every one has heard of the Scottish Guards of Charles the VIIth, the Swiss Guards of the Bourbon Kings, and Napoleon's Polish Lancers. Louis Philippe, "King of the French" created the French Foreign Legion on March 10, 1831. Composed exclusively of volunteers aged between 18 and 40, with or without means of identification, the Legion was immediately involved in the conquest of Algeria before passing under Spanish control in 1835.

A second Legion was then created which fought in Algeria, in Crimea (1855), in Italy (1859) and in Mexico (1863). In Mexico, it won one of its greatest titles to fame: on April 30, 1863, at the Camerone Hacienda near Puebla, 3 officers and 62 legionnaires resisted 2,000 Mexicans. After a day of heroic fighting the last five survivors fixed bayonets and charged. This battle, whose name adorns every Legion flag, remains the symbol of a mission carried out to the bitter end.

• 1870: the Legion fought in France. It welcomed many foreigners who fought in its ranks (the same happened in 1914 and 1939). Then came the campaigns of Tonkin, Sudan, Dahomey, Madagascar and Morocco.
• 1914: the 1st World War. After very heavy casualties, the disbanded regiments were merged into one: the Foreign Legion's "Regiment de Marche" headed by the famous Colonel Rollet, "the Father of the Legion".
• The Pacification of Morocco and the Middle East with the campaigns in the Rif, the Atlas and against the Druze.
• 1939-1945: on the eve of the Armistice, the 11th Regiment of the Foreign Legion was decimated, rather than forced to retreat. The 13th Half-Brigade (Battalion) of the Foreign Legion made history at Narvik and Bjervik in Norway, then accomplished another feat in 1942 at the famous Bir-Hakeim victory in Libya. The Legion was then reunited and fought victorious campaigns in Tunisia, Italy, Provence, Alsace and Germany.
• In Indochina, the 5th Foreign Infantry Regiment escaped from the Japanese grip.
• 1945: the Indochina war began. Every Foreign Legion regiment was represented on the battlefield, particularly in Phu Tong Hoa, the Colonial Road 4, and Dien Bien Phu, where they fought to the last man.
• 1954: the entire Legion was back in Algeria. Its regiments, at first in charge of security, were soon sending out major intervention forces. They took an active part in large scale operations and in border defense duties.
• 1962 to the present day: after leaving Algeria, the regiments regrouped in the south of France and Corsica, or overseas in Djibouti, Madagascar, Tahiti, and French Guiana.
• In 1969-1970, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment and the 1st Foreign Regiment took part in the Chad operations.
• In May 1978, the 2nd Foreign parachute Regiment saved hundreds of European and African civilians in Kolwezi, Zaire, from certain death.

The Legion has paid dearly in human lives during combat and pacification operations in which France has been involved. Since 1831, 902 officers, 3,176 NCOs, and over 30,000 legionnaires have died for France; one third of them while fighting directly for the defense of the country. Foreigners by birth, the legionnaires have become Frenchmen by the blood they have spilled.

The Legionnaire is proud of his uniform ; he always wears it with panache : The White Kepi Officially part of the uniform since July 19, 1939, it was first worn in Africa as a kepi cover, with an added neck-protection against the hot sun. The Legion Grenade insignia shows a grenade with a hollow centre bearing seven flames, two of them directed downwards. The pace of the Foreign Legion's march at 88 steps per minute, is almost the same as that of the former king's soldiers. The Foreign Legion has been marching to the time of the "Boudin" since 1870, when it became its official march. The name "Boudin", or sausage, probably derives from the rolled blanket worn across the chest and so nicknamed.