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How to get into the French Foreign Legion. How much do they earn in the foreign legion?


The French Foreign Legion was founded on March 9, 1831, King Louis-Philippe d'Orléans issued a decree on the formation of troops, prohibiting their use on French territory. The king wanted to remove from the country the mass of mercenaries of Charles X of Bourbon, the remnants of the foreign regiments of Napoleon I, and emigrants who took part in the uprisings in Poland and Italy. These people had real combat experience and represented serious danger the existing political balance.

At the same time, the expansion of France in North Africa, begun by Napoleon, is unfolding with renewed vigor. Thus, the king killed two birds with one stone, directing the combat potential of professional soldiers to expand the sphere of influence of France. A century later, world geopolitics has changed. The colonies achieved independence; there was no longer any need to expand French influence. It seemed

The Legion has outlived its usefulness. However, no. Every year the French parliament puts to a vote the question: does the country need an army of mercenaries? And every year the answer is yes. Currently, the Legion consists of seven regiments (including the famous 2nd Parachute, which includes the special forces of the SVAR Legion, staffed only by volunteer officers and corporals), one demi-brigade and one special detachment.

foreign legion headquarters

Locations:

Mayotte Island (Camores),

Djibouti (Northeast Africa),

Mururua Atoll (Pacific Ocean),

Kourou (French Guiana), Corsica and in France itself.

Candidate

A citizen of any country can join the Legion. The main thing is that the applicant is between 17 and 40 years old, has an ID card with him and is physically fit, of course. First you need to go through a preliminary selection at one of the reference and recruitment points.


Next is selection in the city of Aubagne (southern France), where the “conscript” is examined by doctors, subjected to psychotechnical tests, and here he must show all his physical capabilities. Approximate requirements for a volunteer: 30 push-ups, 50 squats, climb a six-meter rope without using your legs, run 2800 meters in 12 minutes.


If the candidacy is approved, then the first contract is signed for a period of at least five years. Even if a man is married, he is accepted into the legion as a single man. Another clause in the contract: if desired, the candidate can hide his real last name. Previously, this provision was intended to provide a second chance for those who wanted to turn the page or who wanted to escape.


The Legion still retains this clause, often leaving only the first letter of the previous surname.

Service

For the first four months, volunteers undergo a young fighter course. Next is assignment to a specific branch of the military with the rank of “private.” You can count on the position of warrant officer by the end of the first contract.

Before the first five-year contract, you can resign or extend your service for six months, three years or five years. And so on until 15 years have passed since the visit to the legion. After three years of service, a legionnaire can apply for French citizenship.


According to the terms of the contract, two out of five years will have to serve in overseas territories. There is no fixed salary here - the amount consists of basic tariffs and allowances for climatic conditions, the degree of severity of the conflict, the category of the unit in which you serve (sabotage detachment, front line or rear during trench warfare).


We can only add that there is a special allowance for service outside France.

So, you have decided to join the French Foreign Legion

In French Foreign Legion What many men dream of doing is to break with the whole world, to return to their homeland as a gallant officer, or even not to return at all. Think about it first... Is it worth it? As soon as you give yourself into the hands of the Legion, you will lose contact with the outside world for five years, the Legion will become your Motherland, your family and home. No wonder the legion’s motto is: “The Legion is our Fatherland.” And, which is quite natural, you are not welcome there with open arms. I believe you have thought about it and decided everything for yourself. And if you still decide to try yourself in the military field, then read these essentially simple recommendations. If ignorance of the language stops you, you will be taught French, and you will have plenty of practice. Mercenary activity in most countries is punishable by law, so selection points are only in France itself. No one will help you get there - it’s all a scam, even embassies won’t help. Go to Paris, definitely on Sunday or Tuesday.

From Paris on Mondays and Wednesdays there is a departure to Aubagne, you may be late. Here's the address: Paris 94120, Fontenay-sous-Bois – Fort de Nogent.

And phone: 01 49 74 50 65 .

There are several options to get to the recruitment point: on a tourist package or illegally. I don’t recommend doing it illegally - problems may arise upon returning to your homeland, and even at the time of recruitment. If you get to the recruiting point, you will see a military unit. There is always a legionnaire at the entrance - go up to him and be silent. Be diligently silent, otherwise he won’t let you in. Then he will ask you about your nationality (you answer “Rus”) and demand your passport. After that, you will be taken inside, and then, after some time, you will be searched and given a medical examination. This is the primary selection. For some time you will get up at 5.00 in the morning, make your bed, clean, help in the kitchen, carry something... For disobedience - push-ups or a slap. Before being sent to Aubagne, you will undergo another medical examination - a more complete one. You will then be transferred by train to Marseille. From there it’s on to Aubagne. In Aubagne you will be searched even more thoroughly, and then given clothes, toiletries - everything you need. Then they will move in. You will work again, but it will be even better for you - it will not be so boring. The most important thing is that you will pass additional tests. This is why you came to Aubagne.

Presumably, if nothing has changed, you will undergo three types of tests: psychotechnical, medical, physical. Psychotechnical: tests for attentiveness, memory. It all depends on your quickness. Medical: medical examination and questions about injuries and illnesses. I recommend getting your teeth treated. Physical: 2.8 km cross-country in 12 minutes, it is advisable to run more. I also recommend doing more push-ups; for any offense you will have to do push-ups. You will also undergo an interview where you must tell your entire biography. The main thing is to answer truthfully, quickly, and clearly. The interview will take place in three stages. Each next one repeats the previous one, this is a test for lice. Then everyone will be lined up and the names of those who have passed the selection will be shouted out. There are about twenty of them, as a rule. If you are not in this top twenty, you are paid money (25 euros for each day that you lost). Not enough for a ticket home, but at least it’s something. Maybe the next attempt will be more successful. Otherwise, they will start chasing you. Cross country, swimming... Then you take the oath and go to boot camp.

Sequence of selection and training for the French Foreign Legion

Camp near Obanya

Everyone is sent to camp after dinner. Everyone is given back the clothes they arrived in and taken to the station, accompanied by several legionnaires. There everyone gets on the train and goes to the south of France to Marseille. The train arrives there the next day at approximately 6-7 am. Immediately at the Marseille station, everyone transfers to the train, which arrives in Aubagne. In Oban, buses are already waiting to pick up all arriving candidates and take them to the Legion’s central base.

The first foreign regiment, stationed at the base near Aubagne, is engaged in the recruitment and initial training of all recruits.

Upon arrival at the base, everyone is taken to the volunteer building, where another search of personal belongings takes place. It should be noted that it is much more thorough than the very first one, conducted at the recruiting point. As a rule, the only personal items allowed are toiletries, a towel, flip-flops, a phrase book or a dictionary. After this, the volunteer is given the most necessary things. These are two pairs of panties, short sports shorts and a T-shirt (they will replace a tracksuit); if you don’t have sneakers with you, then you will be given tennis shoes. They will also give you a pack of disposable razors, shaving foam, toothbrush And toothpaste, two bars of soap - one for showering, the second laundry soap for washing clothes, toilet paper and two sheets.

After the items are given out, the volunteer is taken to a room where they will be shown a bed. Very often, recruits of completely different nationalities live in the same room, then from time to time they can be shuffled.

The daily routine at boot camp is very similar to that at the recruiting station. The main difference is that getting up occurs much earlier - at 5:00-5:30, and breakfast, respectively, at 5:30-6:00. The shutdown can also sometimes be delayed, but this rarely happens. There is practically no free time - you have to work a lot, but it’s still better than just sitting around doing nothing. Here work is best way Plunge into the life of the legion and meet other legionnaires. Very often they take people to work outside the training camp, for example, to the home of veterans of the legion - this is a 40-minute trip by minibus one way. Sometimes there are trips to the officers' rest house in Marseille - it's a 20-minute trip along the coast Mediterranean Sea. But still, most of the work takes place on the territory of the unit.

All that little free time recruits usually spend time in the sports complex, using logs instead of benches. Usually, all recruits here are divided by nationality, but in principle, if you wish, you can go talk to Poles, Slovaks or volunteers of any other nationalities without any problems - it’s all just a matter of knowing foreign languages.

It should be noted that serious conflicts never arise, and in which case it is not worth escalating, since everyone involved is immediately expelled without finding out the reasons.

And another interesting feature - for the time spent in the training camp in Aubagne, recruits are entitled to something like a salary. Everyone receives 25 euros for each day plus 40 euros for each day off.

Psychological test for joining the French Foreign Legion


Well, of course, each recruit undergoes various tests. Actually, that’s why everyone was brought to the camp.

The first test is psychological. It is usually conducted by a corporal. Explanations about the test usually go to French, sometimes in English, but quite possibly in Russian. It all depends on the nationality of the legionnaire who will conduct this test. It consists of many small tests that last one after another for 1.5 - 2 hours. In this case, a fixed amount of time is allocated for each subtest.

All volunteers are given tests for their native language. If the test was issued in another language, then you must immediately, without fussing, raise your hand and say something like “corporal, not Russian or Russian,” that is, explain that the test was not issued in Russian.

A psychological test usually includes the following tasks:

1. In one of the tasks it will be necessary draw a tree. Moreover, according to the test conditions, it will be necessary to draw only deciduous trees, excluding any coniferous trees (spruce, pine, etc.) and palm trees. After this, you will need to choose from the 20 proposed images of trees the two that the volunteer likes the most. It is best to draw and then select simple trees without a highly developed root system, large quantity branches and so on.

2. Another possible test - this is a gear test. The gist of it is this. Drawings of gears will be given, and from them it will be necessary to determine in which direction gear D will rotate if, for example, gear A rotates to the left. There will be several such drawings, and with each new one the complexity will increase. Gradually, belt drives, a pin, and so on will be added to the three gears in the pictures. As a rule, answer options will be given next to the pictures, and you will need to think carefully and choose the correct one.

When solving this problem, it is necessary to remember everything that was taught in physics lessons, or rather mechanics. There is no need to be afraid that with each new test task the difficulty will increase. On the contrary, each time it will be increasingly easier to navigate the solution to the proposed problem.

3. Next test - a drawing will be given, and in addition to it 4-5 very similar pictures. You need to choose one of them that is the same as the one originally proposed. When solving this problem, the most important thing is to concentrate your vision well on the proposed drawings.

4. Will be offered a drawing showing cubes arranged in several rows. In this case, the rows can be of different thicknesses and heights. You will need to quickly determine how many cubes are shown in the picture and select correct option answer from the one proposed. When solving this problem, you will first need to concentrate your attention.

5. Figures depicted, and they are located in the order 3x3. One of the figures is missing from the picture. It is necessary to select the missing figure from the proposed options. Here again attention plays a decisive role.

6. The volunteer is given list of questions. You will need to carefully read each question and answer it “yes” or “no”, or for example + or -. The questions there are of a completely different nature. For example - Do you feel good in a team? Do you like loneliness? Have you ever had a stomach ache? Have you ever lied in your life? Have you ever stolen?

When answering questions, you must read them carefully and answer them just as carefully. Sometimes there are two opposing questions, and if a positive answer was given to the question of whether you feel good in a team, then a positive answer about loneliness will be clearly inappropriate. The most interesting thing is that no one reads the answers in the future, and they are checked by applying a grid. It is unknown what the construction of the grid depends on.

7. Memory test. The subject will be given a map of a residential area, on which various houses and buildings will be marked. Everything shown on the map will be accompanied by comments like “school”, “gas station”, “shoe store” and so on. Street names will also be signed. The volunteer must memorize this card within five minutes, after which he will be given exactly the same, but absolutely blank card. There you will need to mark objects from the previous map. True, there is one relaxation - if there were about 25-30 marked buildings on the original map, only 10-12 need to be marked on the clean one. In order to perform well on this test, you only need to remember the buildings themselves, with their names and location relative to others. If you have difficulty remembering the entire map, then you need to focus your efforts on remembering, for example, only the top of the map, or only one corner of the map, or only gas stations and stores, and so on.

8. Attentiveness test. The volunteer is shown a set of randomly repeating symbols, 7-8 in total. These symbols are arranged in rows on 5-6 sheets. A sequence of two characters will also be given as a sample. It is necessary to sequentially cross out these two symbols on the sheets of paper over a certain period of time. In general, successful passing of the test depends only on the attentiveness of the test taker.

Medical test


The medical test is carried out in another building. As a rule, a group of volunteers of 10-12 people is called to complete it. Arriving at the building, everyone called strips down to their underpants and sits on a bench to wait their turn. Here you need to be very careful, because everyone is called for a medical examination by last name, and you must not only not miss yours, but also answer when you were called.

The medical examination itself consists of three stages. First the volunteer goes through two corporals. Here the volunteer will have a urine test, check his vision, the condition of his teeth, write down where the scars are on the body and in what circumstances they were received. The volunteer is then asked various questions, including:

  • Have you ever had jaundice (measles, mumps and other diseases)?
  • Have you undergone any operations?
  • Were there any fractures or serious injuries?
  • Did you play sports, what kind and how much?
  • Why do you want to join the Legion?
  • Briefly tell your biography.

After all this, the volunteer moves to the next room - this is the second stage of the medical examination. In the room, the adjutant will ask various questions. Among these questions there will definitely be those that have already been asked before - you need not to be nervous, not to be rude, but to answer it again. Communication with the adjutant occurs through a legionnaire, who translates into and from Russian.

Then the third stage - in another office there is a captain, who once again examines the teeth, ears, listens to the lungs and examines the body. Then he asks questions again, and as a result, the volunteer is either denied entry into the legion or allowed to undergo a physical test.

Physical test

After successfully passing the medical test, volunteers are sent to a physical test. It consists only of cross-country, which usually takes place in the morning. The cross-country race takes place in a standard stadium with a circle length of 400 meters, the tracks of which are rubber-surfaced. If it’s winter, then the cross-country is rented directly to the parts around the hangars. Before the run, all volunteers are given T-shirts and numbers depending on how many people take the test.

Everyone runs to the stadium instead of walking. Distance - approximately 1-1.2 kilometers. Having arrived at the stadium, the whole group must line up at the start and then run laps against the clock. According to the test conditions, you need to run at least 2.8 kilometers in 12 minutes. But at the same time, having run the necessary distance, you cannot stop - you need to continue running further until the allotted time runs out.

The command to run is given using a whistle; the second whistle stops the test. Each circle is marked by a legionnaire in the general list. After finishing the test, everyone runs back to the unit, where they hand over their T-shirts and go to the shower.

In addition to being able to run well, you also need to be good at push-ups. The fact is that for any offense the command “pump” can follow, and the most important thing for a volunteer is not to be among the first to get tired.

Gestapo

No, no one is going to torture volunteers with a hot iron. This is the figurative name for going through the interview process with legion security officers. This interview aims to create a database about the future legionnaire. The questions that will be asked during the interview can be completely different and on different topics. You should answer as truthfully as possible; if it doesn’t work out, then you don’t need to create a too beautiful legend for yourself. There will be people sitting in front of the volunteer whose job is to see through the interlocutor, and their decision largely determines whether the volunteer will go further or not.

The interview process takes place in three stages. At the first, a sergeant speaking Russian will communicate with the volunteer. This may be a native of the former Soviet Union, a Pole, a Bulgarian or another Slavic nationality. Mostly questions are asked about life before arriving at the recruiting station. The biography is revealed, the motives for why he came to serve in the legion, whether there were any problems in his country and other similar questions that will complement each other and ultimately show the full picture.

The most important thing here is to say exactly what was previously told at the medical examination and recruitment point. The second stage is also a sergeant, and the same questions are asked only in a different sequence. The purpose of this stage is to find out how truthful the volunteer was before. The third stage - an officer no less than a lieutenant, basically the same questions, but this time communication takes place through an interpreter.

We don’t think it’s worth reminding that a volunteer will be able to get an interview with the Gestapo only if all previous tests have been passed successfully. It is also worth keeping in mind that all three interviews can be conducted on one day, or they can be divided into several. So the only thing that can help in this case is to answer all questions clearly, quickly and, most importantly, truthfully.

Rouge

Rouge - comes from the French word "rouge", which translates as red. Previously, all those volunteers who passed all the checks and were waiting to be sent to boot camp wore a red bandage on their sleeve. Currently, this custom is no longer in effect, but the name itself has been preserved. Only those volunteers who successfully passed the Gestapo, that is, who for one reason or another were not eliminated by security officers, get into the Rouge.

Legionnaire candidates are selected on Fridays during morning formation. First, groups are called to take tests and do some chores, then the names of candidates for the rouge are called, and everyone who has not been named is sent to the logs. Those who were called by the officers leave the general formation and line up in the place where the gun is stationed. As a rule, 18 people are named, rarely when this number exceeds one or two people. When the last name is called, the command “civil” is heard for the remaining ones. Those who were not named go and hand over the things given to them, receive theirs, plus cash payment for the time they were in the legion. Payment is calculated based on the number of days. After that, everyone goes on the train and goes home - this time the legion is over for them. But no one bothers you to try again after a while.

All those who are enrolled in the legion first of all go to the hairdresser. There they shave all their heads. After this, you must hand in your sports uniform, and in return you will be given a new military uniform, except for a beret with a badge, and boots. They give the uniform that the entire legion wears. Then they give you a new tracksuit, but with the emblems of the legion. They also give you new toiletries and move you to a separate room. The accepted legionnaire will spend further time with his comrades in arms, except for free time. There, no one forbids you to go and communicate with your people from Russia.

The daily routine is also structured differently. Now they wake up the Rouge first, and then the rest of the camp. Rouge is also on night duty at the entrance to the volunteer territory and at the entrance to the building. The shifts are only 2 hours long, but naturally you have to sleep less. Now there will be practically no work on the territory, but now there will be regular cross-country races (5-7 kilometers each), swimming (about an hour in the pool at any desired time), and acquaintance with the life of the legion is also provided - they show films, take them to a museum, and so on. It will be necessary to spend a week in such an environment until next Thursday. On Thursday, all former Ruzhovites are sworn in and given the traditional legionnaire's beret with a cockade.

Well, early on Friday morning, the newly minted legionnaires are sent to a training camp near the city of Castelnaudary in the Pyrenees mountains in the Toulouse region.

Salary in the French Foreign Legion

Salaries (salary)


Starting salary - 1043 euros per month with free housing and food. Further, the salary increases depending on length of service and place of service. For example, a corporal (3 years of service) who serves in France receives 1226 euros. And a corporal who serves in Djibouti costs 3,626 euros.

The largest military operations in which legionnaires took part

  • Participation in the assault on Sevastopol (1853-1856)
  • Cargo protection in Mexico (1863-1867)
  • War for the French Protectorate in Indochina (1883-1885)
  • Fight against the liberation movement in Madagascar (1895)
  • Participation in the First and Second World Wars
  • Indochina (1940-1954)
  • Algeria (1953-1961)
  • Counterinsurgency in Zaire (1978)
  • Lebanon (1982-1983)
  • Persian Gulf, capture of Iraq's Al Salman airport (1991)
  • Peacekeeping actions in Magadisha, Bosnia (1992-1996)
  • Kosovo (1999)
  • Afghanistan
  • Mali (Africa)

Mercenaries have been known to mankind since ancient times. Paid foreign soldiers were part of the troops
 Egyptian pharaohs in the third millennium BC
 era. Mercenary troops existed in the Babylonian kingdom and Ancient Rome, among the Persian rulers and in Carthage.

The most brutal and merciless mercenaries served
 bodyguards of ancient Greek tyrants. During the period of formation of centralized
 feudal states are truly flourishing
 mercenarism.


Corrupt warriors were widely used
 kings to strengthen their power, were popular
 goods at the courts of Spain, Italy, France, who could not imagine their existence without military campaigns.
 So, for example, the Prussian willingly used mercenaries
 King Frederick the Great. Soldier for sale willingly
 supplied poorer feudal lords from among their serfs
 from the Scandinavian countries, German kingdoms and duchies. The most common name for a mercenary soldier, “landsknecht,” came into general use from the German language.
For almost two centuries in France there has been a = military unit that is part of ground forces France - Foreign Legion or as it was called in African and Asian countries - Legion of Assassins. The tall white caps of the legionnaires terrified the inhabitants of these regions.


Even today decent people in Western Europe call him that when they are faced with the impudence and sneakiness of recruiters for a legion that trains professional killers.

Under the slogan “Down with the legion of murderers!” thousands of workers took to the streets of Paris to protest against the bloody atrocities of legionnaires thrown into the Zairean province of Shaba (formerly Katanga) to suppress the popular uprising that broke out there in April 1977 against reactionary regime General Mobutu.

So what is the French Foreign Legion?

Let's remember the past. 1831 France. King Louis Philippe decides to seize the wealth of the countries of North Africa. But there was still a generation of Frenchmen alive who destroyed the stronghold of feudal violence - the Bastille prison in Paris. The ideas of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity of the Great French Revolution continued to live among the masses. These masses did not want to serve the imperial plans of Louis Philippe. Then the idea was born to send a multi-tribal and purse-obedient rabble of mercenary soldiers from different countries to seize colonies.

The ashes of peaceful cities and villages remained after the first operations of the legion on Algerian soil. In 1855, the legion took part in the war of Turkey, England, France and Sardinia against Russia for dominance in the Middle East. 1863 The Foreign Legion is trying to bring rebellious Mexico to its knees and place Napoleon III's protégé on the imperial throne there.

In 1871, legionnaires could be seen among the executioners of the Parisian communards. 1884. The legion marches through Indochina with fire and sword, laying its rich lands at the feet of the masters of the Third Republic.

1914 Trenches of the First World War. The legionnaires' weapons are aimed... no, not against the troops of the German Kaiser, but at the back of the French soldiers, to prevent their retreat.

Later, there were years of bloody expeditions to Syria and the French colonies in Africa, who rose up to fight for independence. The Legion had to return to the once conquered countries when their foundations were shaking French colonialists. In 1948, the imperialist circles of France again sent the legion to Indochina. But these were no longer the old days. Six years of dirty war and atrocities ended in the defeat of the imperialists.

Then there was Algeria again. Here the legion was going to firmly establish itself. Forever, as his bosses planned. Before the victory of the Algerian people, as it turned out in reality...

IN different years Various roads led to the legion. At first it was formed from the remnants of the defeated Napoleonic armies. After 1917, it was replenished by the White Guard rabble and other enemies Soviet power thrown out by the revolution.

After the Second World War, undead SS men and Hitler’s criminals, hiding from retribution for their atrocities, poured here. They made up the majority of the legion. Criminals from different countries, people who did not have the means to live in the “free world,” found their place in it.

Adventure seekers and disadvantaged people, crushed by life, come here. There are known scandalous cases of recruitment into the legion of young people from Belgium, France and others European countries, with the help of blackmail and deception, wine and drugs. Entangled in the tenacious networks of recruiters, they turned into a tool of those who needed to kill the rebel Algerians, Vietnamese, Guianese...

Over time, the Foreign Legion turned into the main reserve of the most extreme reaction, into a hotbed of fascism not only in Algeria, where mercenary camps were established, but also in France itself.

The legion played a sinister role in the attempt of French imperialism to strangle the national liberation struggle of the Algerian people, which broke out in 1954. Legion became main map reactionary Algerian generals and colonels, who in mid-1961 created the secret armed organization OAS, which set the goals of preventing the granting of independence to Algeria and establishing a military-fascist regime in France itself. The OAS members acted using methods of mass terror. To carry out murders and explosions, they recruited “activists” mainly from the mercenaries of the Foreign Legion. And when the Franco-Algerian ceasefire negotiations began, the reactionaries saw the legion as a force capable of disrupting these negotiations.

Incited by their leaders, the paratroopers of the Foreign Legion announced their readiness to “land on Paris.” They waited for the signal in their barracks in full combat readiness. Transport planes stood at the airfields with their engines running, and from the windows of the barracks came the drunken voices of paratroopers shouting the popular song “I don’t regret anything”, which was popular at that time.

They were waiting for the order of General Salan, the leader of the fascist conspiracy against the French and Algerian peoples, to unleash an armed avalanche on the metropolis, to deal a decisive blow to its republican system. And when a single mass action of French workers thwarted an attempted fascist coup in the country, and terrorists from the OAS began their “bomb festival” in France and Algeria, it was the legionnaires who made up the most active combat groups of the OAS, and it was the legionnaires who became the “heroes” of numerous murder trials from - around the corner, assassinations, arson, explosions.

Terror did not help, and neither did the mercenaries. In March 1962, the Evian Agreements were signed for a ceasefire and Algerian self-determination, and two months later Algeria celebrated winning its independence. And the Foreign Legion had to get out of the country on whose soil it was created more than a century ago and where it shed streams of blood of peaceful, innocent people.

The legionnaires tried to settle in “French” Guiana, but the attitude of the country’s population towards the mercenaries was so hostile that this intention had to be abandoned.

Then professional killers chose the island of Corsica. This is where their camps were set up. They said that such a neighborhood would “give impetus” to the flourishing of the island’s economy. The “impulse” was not slow to manifest itself. But what! With the advent of the “white caps”, the peaceful Corsicans were literally terrorized. In collaboration with local bandits, the legionnaires began to systematically commit robberies, violence, and murder. The “fame” of their outrages began to scare away foreign tourists, whose visits were one of the significant sources of income for the island’s residents.

Later, a new legion base was established in Djibouti, the capital of French Somalia. Violence, robberies, executions of civilians, construction of prisons and concentration camps - this is what the soldiers of the Foreign Legion did in this country.

There is a dark symbolism in the fact that after the expulsion of the French colonialists from Algeria, the Foreign Legion set up one of its bases in the small town of Oban near Marseille, where during the Second World War Hitler’s concentration camp was located - a “death camp”, as they were called throughout Europe. Prisoners were tortured and killed there, among whom were many French patriots - participants in the Resistance movement. Today, the methods of Hitler’s monsters are being studied and adopted by hired warriors.

The Legion exists. This is greatly facilitated by the legal status of mercenaries in France, although it is not customary to talk or write about the legion there. A stranger can visit the legionnaires’ camp only with the permission of the French Minister of War.

The legion, in the ranks of which there are about 8 thousand mercenaries, although French in name, is more similar in composition to foreign ones. In addition to the French, who make up about 40% of the legionnaires, the British, Irish, Portuguese, Italians, Greeks, Arabs, Swedes, Americans and people of other nationalities serve here. They all live and act under fictitious names.

A mercenary signs a contract to serve in the legion for 5 years, after which he can resign with false documents and under a false name. There are mercenaries in the legion who decided to stay in it for life. These people usually get a tattoo on their arm – “The Great Unknown”. There is no need to talk about the greatness of a professional killer, but as for the “unknown”, that’s for sure. A legionnaire loses his name, the names of his father and mother throughout his life, loses his nationality, loses his homeland. How scary it must be for a person to remain unknown among people all his life!


As a rule, those who are morally mature for this profession enter the legion. Many legionnaires have difficulty meeting the deadline set by the contract. There are also many who, having decided to end the craft of hired killers; fleeing camps and military formations.

To return deserters to the legion barracks in a number of countries Western Europe There is an extensive network of recruiting offices. They were created in Marseille, Dusseldorf, Hamburg. Deserters are found. They are not asked to return. They say briefly: “They don’t just leave us. IN best case scenario- to the next world..."

Over half a million lovers of military profit passed through the French Foreign Legion over the years of its existence. Tens of thousands of them laid down their lives in the name of the aggressive, colonialist interests of their masters.

In August 1985, teletypes carried the news that soldiers of the French Foreign Legion carried out an armed raid on the city of Kourou in Guiana, a French overseas department located in the northeastern part of South America.

The legionnaires were sent to Guiana, ostensibly to protect the rocket and space center located near Kourou. The city was also raided by legionnaires in 1984. Then there was only one explanation - to prevent, they say, the threat of an attack by local residents on the rocket and space center. This time the legionnaires burst into the city, destroying everything that came along the road, killing people.

After the legionnaires' raid on Kura, a mass protest rally took place in the city. Those gathered decided to create a committee, which they called: “French Foreign Legion—get out of Guiana!”



General Massu awards Lieutenant Le Pen.

At the beginning of 1985, France was rocked by a scandalous story. Major newspapers, television, and radio published materials about how in 1956-1957, during the Algerian colonial war, Foreign Legion lieutenant Jean-Marie Le Pen tortured independence fighters - members of the National Liberation Front - using the most barbaric means.

The revelation of Le Pen caused a great stir when it became known that the fanatical lieutenant of the Foreign Legion and the leader of the current neo-fascist National Front are one and the same person.

Today, Le Pen led the movement of the most reactionary forces in France. He is an ardent anti-communist. Today he is one of the leaders of the National Front and the father of Marine Le Pen.


86-year-old Jean-Marie Le Pen is known for his scandalous statements justifying the actions of the Nazi regime in Germany, as well as openly racist ideas. The hired killer became a full-blown fascist. This is natural. Another alarming thing is that his family, at the head of the far-right movement, is rushing into the European political arena.

And earlier, in the 80s of the last century, the progressive public of France and other European countries, into which the French Foreign Legion extends its tentacles, repeatedly demanded to disband the legion of murderers, liquidate its camps, and stop the recruitment of young people. But the legion is alive. It lives because it is needed as one of NATO’s striking forces to preserve the positions of the builders of mutocapitalism in those countries that until recently were the object of habitual colonial plunder for European powers.


Military history has many pages in which various military formations are mentioned that are directly involved in hostilities and are located in the hottest spots of our planet. The most famous among them is the French Foreign Legion. This is a truly legendary military unit, whose military glory is covered in various myths and stories. Many books have been written about this elite unit and dozens of films have been made. For entire generations of men, service in this unit was considered the ultimate dream. Many have dreamed and continue to dream about how to become legionnaires and quickly put on a special military uniform. However, in reality, instead of bravado and ostentatious gloss, the foreign legion is hard service and work associated with constant risk and danger. Is a person ready to voluntarily give up all the advantages that civilian life promises when he begins his military career life in accordance with the harsh and strict military regulations?

You can refer to weighty arguments in favor of making such a decision: good salary, full social Security, the opportunity to subsequently obtain French citizenship. However, for all this you have to pay a big price: personal freedom, hard physical labor and deprivation, and finally, constant danger and threat to life, despite the fact that romance military service, future benefits and decent pay are serious motivation.

French Foreign Legion - what is it really?

It should be noted right away that the legion is not a club of interests in which everyone does what they want. This is a full-fledged military unit belonging to the armed forces of the French Republic. Not only the military regulations apply here, but also a whole series provisions that regulate the procedure for serving. Unlike traditional armed forces, the legion has a different recruitment and recruiting system. The military personnel of this unit undergo a completely different, exorbitant level of training. Subsequent service in the legion takes place in conditions as close as possible to combat, in various parts of the planet.

Only representatives of the stronger sex can become legionnaires. Women are not allowed to serve in the foreign legion!

The history of this legendary military unit goes back less than two hundred years. In 1831, King Louis Philippe I of France undertook an adventurous military operation in North Africa. The military campaign, according to the plan of the French court, was supposed to divert the attention of civil society from internal problems in the state. The purpose of the military expedition to Algeria was the declared expansion of borders colonial empire.

This dubious event required a significant number of troops, which France clearly did not have enough at that time. In addition, the French generals were not delighted with the military adventure of the French king and in every possible way opposed sending regular units French army to overseas possessions. Life itself suggested a way out of this situation.

France first half of the 19th century haven't survived centuries better times. The economy was in decline and the country's population was in dire straits. The consequences of fifteen years of continuous wars that France waged under Napoleon Bonaparte were felt. A huge number of idle males appeared inside the country, looking for any ways and opportunities to improve their plight, without disdaining robbery. Neither the police, nor the gendarmerie, nor the army could cope with such negative phenomena. The only way out of this situation was a royal decree on the creation of a new paramilitary unit under the leadership of French officers, which could be staffed by people who had problems with the law.

In this way, it was possible to immediately solve two problems:

  • by legalization, remove criminal and unreliable elements from the streets of French cities and roads;
  • gather the required number of people for subsequent training and sending to the colonies.

The only condition stipulated in the royal decree was that the newly created paramilitary force could not be used on the territory of the metropolis. As a result of such actions, in just a few months the required number of people was recruited through recruitment centers. The set did not have any special requirements. The recruits were neither asked for their name nor their social background. To become a legionnaire, a man from the street only had to be in reasonable health and have an idea of ​​how to hold a gun.

Shortly after the first months of basic military training, recruits were sent to Algeria to suppress the uprising of local natives and to participate in the expansion of colonial possessions. New army was given the name Foreign Legion.

The first combat experience showed that the chosen tactics were completely justified. Legionnaires, unlike regular army soldiers, knew what they were fighting for. Having shown enviable ingenuity, tenacity and perseverance on the battlefield, the soldiers and officers of the foreign legion were able to quickly suppress not only pockets of rebel Arabs, but also establish a strict and harsh colonial regime in the colony. From that moment on, the foreign legion began to be involved in almost all wars waged by France. In the 19th century, legionnaires had to fight in Spain and Mexico. The French Foreign Legion also took part in Crimean War, fighting Russian troops near Sevastopol.

In the next 20th century, legionnaires became participants in the largest military conflicts that affected not only France, but also shocked the whole world. Conquest of Indochina, participation in military operations in the French colonies in Madagascar, Morocco, then the First World War. Everywhere, in the most dangerous areas, soldiers and officers of the foreign legion were involved. The French Foreign Legion became a kind of special forces that solved the most complex tactical and strategic problems. At some points, the number of units of the Foreign Legion was about 50 thousand people. The soldiers of this unit had to serve in various parts of the world, from isolated islands in the Pacific Ocean to the dense jungles of South America and tropical Africa.

The essence of the Foreign Legion as a unit and how to get into it

Despite the fact that the Foreign Legion is officially part of the French army, in reality it is a separate military unit reporting directly to the head of state. At first it was the King of France, then the Emperor, and in modern times - the President of the French Republic. Neither army regulations nor orders of the Minister of Defense apply here. Today the legion has its own developed infrastructure. Each regiment that is part of the legion has its own quarters, with barracks, headquarters and even its own guardhouse. At its core, it is a closed organization, reminiscent in its structure of medieval orders of knighthood.

The legion is financed from the state treasury and through sponsorship. A significant part of the Foreign Legion’s budget comes from financial and economic groups and lobbyists who have heavy weight in internal and foreign policy France. In other words, there are no permanent and fixed allocations for the maintenance of the legion. Unlike the regular French army, legionnaires do not have broad social government guarantees.

The French Foreign Legion is also distinguished by its military doctrine. There is an unspoken limitation on the equipment of the units that are part of the Foreign Legion. There are no full-fledged tank formations or its own aviation. Armed with armored personnel carriers, light artillery systems, and helicopters. The bulk of combat work has to be performed by infantry units. Today the legion includes:

  • one armored cavalry regiment;
  • two airborne units;
  • engineer regiment;
  • infantry and training regiments.

Some military units are stationed on the territory of continental France and on the island of Corsica. In the town of Aubagne, department of Bouches-du-Rhone, on the territory of the 1st regiment, the General Headquarters of the Foreign Legion is located. Other units are located in overseas territories controlled by France.

The procedure for recruiting military units belonging to the French Legion is curious. In contrast to previously used recruitment methods, when citizens with any reputation and any nationality could become legionnaires, today the conditions for recruitment into this elite unit have been tightened.

In order to become a legionnaire today, it is enough to know the mechanism of the admission procedure and have a relatively unblemished reputation. Gone are the days when the Legion was a convenient shelter for those who tried to hide from the law, even from another state. The main and main condition for starting the process is a voluntary desire, which must be shown along with your passport at the recruitment point. What follows is strict medical commission and an assessment of your physical abilities. Today the Legion is not ready to support soldiers who are in poor health and who do not fully understand what they will have to deal with. The first contract is signed for a period of 5 years, and the main article of the contract directly indicates that you will not have to sit out in the rear at a warm resort. The main function of legionnaires is to serve in hot spots, where the likelihood of hostilities and clashes is always high.

Not only a person of French origin, but also a foreigner can become a legionnaire. Over the years of the existence of this unit, representatives of more than 130 states served in the Foreign Legion. Only privates and sergeants are recruited into the Legion. Command at all stages is exercised by French officers, so French is the main command language.

After the end of the first contract, military personnel who have demonstrated valor, bravery and have an impeccable reputation receive either French citizenship or a residence permit in France. Having been wounded during operations, there is a chance to immediately receive not only French citizenship, but also a serious increase in salary. The service life of a legionnaire is limited only by the period of validity of the contract. In other words, if a legionnaire’s contract has expired and he is tired of fighting, he can leave. For those who served under the banners of the Foreign Legion for 19 years or more, a lifetime pension with the right to provide housing is assigned.

Despite the fact that today the number of military conflicts in which the French Foreign Legion participates is limited, the life of a legionnaire is not easy. In parallel with high salaries and relative comfort in peacetime, soldiers of the foreign legion, as before, experience the hardships and hardships of military service to a double or triple extent.

The French Foreign Legion (French: Legion étrangère) is a unique unit in the French Army, created in 1831. The Legion was specifically created for foreign citizens wishing to serve in the French armed forces, but under the command of French officers.

However, it is also open to French citizens, who make up 24% of conscripts. After the July Revolution of 1830, foreigners were prohibited from conscripting into the French army, and so the Legion was created to allow France to circumvent this restriction. The Legion is also seen as a convenient way to command large numbers of recently arrived foreign citizens. (thus being able to test their political views) by sending them to Algeria.

The Legion was primarily used to defend and expand the French colonial empire in the 19th century, but they also fought in almost all French wars including the Franco-Prussian War and both World Wars. The Foreign Legion remains an important part of the French military, having survived one empire, two world wars, the rise and fall of armies, the fall of the French colonial empire and the loss of the Legion's homeland, Algeria.

LEGION forms one inseparable whole...

FRENCH-FOREIGN-LEGIONF - all legionnaires have one goal: to serve France professionally and well.
The relationship between those who give orders and those who receive them is based on several basic principles:
- discipline and honor;
- reward for a job well done;
- attachment to the past, supported by strong traditions.

Traditions in the Foreign Legion are expressed as follows:
- its special form;
- your music and songs;
- its pace for a solemn procession;
- his honoring ceremonies in the Foreign Legion.

After three years of service, a legionnaire can apply for French citizenship and may also be eligible for a residence permit. The residence permit is valid for ten years and can be renewed. At the end of his career, the legionnaire is assisted in his return to civilian life.

New opportunities for a new life...

Regardless of origin, nationality or religion, regardless of your social or professional status, the French Foreign Legion gives you the chance to start a new life. Join 7,699 legionnaires from 136 different countries, including France. Build yourself an exceptional future in which “honor” and “loyalty” are fundamental values.

French Foreign Legion today:

The Legion is today known as an elite military unit whose training focuses not only on traditional military skills, but also on a strong team spirit. The Legion comes from people from different countries with different cultures, it is a common decision to strengthen them enough to work as a team. Consequently, preparation is often not only physically difficult, but also extremely difficult psychologically.

An integral part of the French army, the French Foreign Legion is a professional fighting unit. Legionnaires are, first of all, volunteers, of any nationality, race or religion, always ready to serve France.

They are able to perform assigned tasks anywhere at any time. Upon joining the French Foreign Legion, you become part of the events, not in France on maneuvers, but will take part in operations abroad (French Guyana, New Caledonia, Mayotte, Reunion, French West Indies, etc.).

The Legion was able to adapt to any situation in all the hot spots where it was used (the Gulf War in 1990-1991; Kampuchea, Somalia in 1992-1993; Rwanda in 1994, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia in 1993 to 2003; Central African Republic in 1996...).

Today, legionnaires serve in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Chad, and wherever France may need them.
Vienot area, Aubagne, near Marseille, France - the headquarters of the French Foreign Legion is located here.

How to get into the French Foreign Legion? Silently!

Surely at some point you have heard of the French Legion. Oh, I’m not afraid of this word, the legendary French Foreign Legion! It is covered with 170 years of glory of battles and peacekeeping actions. Many men dream of joining the French Foreign Legion in order to break with the whole world, but even if women don’t dream of it, they don’t belong there!

So, you decided to join the French Foreign Legion in order to return to your homeland as a gallant officer, or even not return at all. Think about it first... Is it worth it?

As soon as you give yourself into the hands of the Legion, you will lose contact with the outside world for five years, the Legion will become your Motherland, your family and home. No wonder the legion’s motto is: “The Legion is our Fatherland.” And, quite naturally, you are not welcome there with open arms.

I believe you have thought about it and decided everything for yourself. And if you still decide to try yourself in the military field, then read these essentially simple recommendations.

If your lack of knowledge of the language stops you, you will be taught French, and you will have plenty of practice.

Mercenary activity is punishable by law in most countries, so selection points are only located in France itself. No one will help you get there - it’s all a scam, even embassies won’t help. Go to Paris, definitely on Sunday or Tuesday. From Paris on Mondays and Wednesdays there is a departure to Aubagne, you may be late. Here's the address: Paris 94120, Fontenay-sous-Bois - Fort de Nogent. And phone number: 01 49 74 50 65.

There are several options to get to the recruitment point: on a tourist package or illegally. I don’t recommend doing it illegally - problems may arise upon returning to your homeland, and even at the time of recruitment.

If you reach the recruitment point, you will see a military unit. There is always a legionnaire at the entrance - approach him and remain silent. Be diligently silent, otherwise he won’t let you in. Then he will ask you about your nationality (you answer “Rus”) and demand your passport. After this, you will be taken inside, and then, after some time, you will be searched and given a medical examination. This is the primary selection. For a while you will get up at 5.00 in the morning, make your bed, clean, help in the kitchen, carry something... For disobedience - push-ups or a slap on the wrist.

Before leaving for Aubagne, you will undergo another medical examination - a more complete one. You will then be transferred by train to Marseille. From there it’s on to Aubagne. In Aubagne you will be searched even more thoroughly, and then given clothes, toiletries - everything you need. Then they will move in. You will work again, but it will be even better for you - it will not be so boring.

The most important thing is that you will take additional tests. This is why you came to Aubagne. Presumably (!), if nothing has changed, you will undergo three types of tests: psychotechnical, medical, physical.

Psychotechnical: tests for attentiveness, memory. It all depends on your quickness. Medical: medical examination and questions about injuries and illnesses. I recommend getting your teeth treated. Physical: cross-country of 2.8 km in 12 minutes, it is advisable to run more. I also recommend doing more push-ups; for any offense you will have to do push-ups.

You will also undergo an interview where you must tell your entire biography. The main thing is to answer truthfully, quickly, and clearly. The interview will take place in three stages. Each next one repeats the previous one, this is a check for lice.

Next, everyone will be lined up and the names of those who have passed the selection will be shouted out. There are about twenty of them, as a rule. If you are not in this top twenty, you are paid money (25 euros for each day that you lost). Not enough for a ticket home, but at least it’s something. Maybe the next try will be more successful.

Otherwise, they start chasing you. Cross country, swimming... Then you take the oath and go to boot camp.

Dozens of young guys arrive in France to start a new life - join the Foreign Legion, earn money, and obtain French citizenship. Again, military romance beckons. However, practically no one has complete and reliable information about what awaits them there. Many will be disappointed.

First approximation

The French Foreign Legion is one of the most closed military organizations in the world. It is subsidized to a greater extent by the French state, and to a lesser extent through special operations on a contract basis. Only foreign citizens are accepted into the legion (officers are an exception, many of them previously served in the French regular army), and it ensures the military presence of France in the “hot spots” of the planet, including conducting special operations (here we can mention, in particular, Cote- D'Ivoire, Chad, Senegal, Gabon).

The French public is completely calm and even positive about the fact that the country’s interests are protected not by the French military, but by foreign contract workers. Yes, France protects its citizens, and regular units in special operations are used (if it comes down to it) only in second place - legionnaires come first. And no one in France is demanding the withdrawal of troops from South America and Africa, because the country’s armed forces are represented there by the Foreign Legion.

To this day, the legion is believed to hide criminals. This is wrong. Firstly, everyone who wants to join is checked against the Interpol database and, if the person is wanted, he is handed over to the police. Secondly, serious control of the purity of the ranks is carried out as part of the entrance tests. Thirdly, for each language group there is a legion security officer who unofficially travels to the country where the candidates come from and collects dossiers on each.

So it is impossible for a character with a serious criminal past to get into the legion. At the same time, one-time arrests to the police for petty hooliganism are not taken into account.

Nikolai Chizhov, served in the Foreign Legion for five years under a contract, now an employee of the Encore security agency in Bordeaux: There are quite a lot of Russians serving in the Foreign Legion. There was a period when our guys were accepted very willingly, but now when recruiting, the military gives preference to Europeans (Germans, Finns, Irish, etc.) and respects national diversity. Russians entering service in the legion are divided into three main categories: young romantics, former military men and guys from the “brigades” who managed to leave before being convicted and are hiding from their own people. Russians mostly stick together and help each other.

Recruitment into the Legion outside French territory is prohibited. In France itself, there are 20 recruitment centers where those interested can come and try to sign up as candidates.

Now you are incognito

Let's say our guy found the addresses of recruitment centers in France, bought a ticket from a travel agency (you can, of course, use an invitation from any Schengen country), received a visa and arrived at the place. What's next?

Vadim Osmalovsky, was prematurely discharged from the legion due to injury, is now establishing private business: At the entrance to the recruitment point, they took my passport, then searched me, medical examination and asked for his first name, last name, date and place of birth, where he came from, whether he had a criminal record, inquired about his parents, motivation, etc. After that, they assigned him a new name, date, place of birth and assigned him to a room. It was possible to go out only when necessary: ​​to eat, to undergo additional medical examination, for example. In the room there was a TV and a video player with cassettes about the legion - that’s all the leisure time. I didn’t speak French, so Russian legionnaires helped me and translated. A couple of days later we were all sent to a selection camp in the south of France - in Aubagne.

A question that interests many: why do they change a volunteer’s name? Previously, this was done to hide a person, since the legion did not care about the volunteer’s past. At the beginning of the last century, famous criminals actually fled from justice in the Foreign Legion, and after World War II, former Wehrmacht employees did so.

Now the name change is largely due to the fact that in some countries mercenary work is considered illegal. And of course, this is a tribute to tradition.

Nikolai Chizhov: When I entered the service, not everyone changed their name - for example, they kept my real name. And now everyone who joins the legion is given a new name. The soldier is returned to his old name after the “ratification” procedure, which takes place in the first three years of service. But then, when applying for French citizenship (this can be done after three years of service in the legion - “Money”), a person can indicate that he wants to change his last name. Then he is given a list of several surnames starting with the same letter as his old one. You have to choose from the list, you can’t come up with it yourself. Changing your last name makes everything very difficult, but some people do it anyway.

Every four weeks, 50 people are recruited from all recruitment centers and sent to the south of France to the city of Aubagne, where the legion selection camp is located. In Aubagne, candidates undergo tests that become more difficult every year. This is due to the introduction of new equipment into the arsenal, including sophisticated electronics, so the passing IQ score increases.

Vadim Osmalovsky: Upon admission, we took the following tests: psychotechnical (we spent two hours solving problems on logic, technical acumen, puzzles), physical (endurance - you need to run at least 2.8 km in 12 minutes), medical (full medical examination down to the condition of the teeth). In addition, they underwent a three-stage interview with security officers (applicants call this “Gestapo”), where you need to tell your biography in detail and explain your motivation. Basically, people are eliminated there, and it is impossible to understand the methods of the security service; it is guided by its own criteria.

If all tests are successfully passed, the legion signs a contract with the newcomer for five years, after which the recruit is sent to a training camp in the Pyrenees - near Toulouse - for four months. If the tests are not passed, then the person’s things and documents are simply returned, and the money earned while passing the tests is given (the main job is cleaning the territory or premises, for which they pay 25 euros per day, on weekends - 45 euros).

With this money, the failed commandos return home. The most persistent ones again begin to prepare to enter the legion - there may be three attempts, if the commission does not pronounce a verdict “unfit for service in the legion.”

Dangerous and difficult

After signing a contract, volunteers begin new life in the literal sense of the word. Guys with new names undergo serious training in a boot camp for four months, learning French, weapons, tactics, history of the legion and much more. The workload is crazy, the information is no longer duplicated - everything is given only in French, so some can’t stand it and desert. Recruits who have completed full training are assigned to regiments based on the needs of the legion and the level of preparedness of the fighter.

The word “deserter” is heard quite often when it comes to the legion. A very common myth (in the same media, for example) is that desertion is the only possible way to leave the legion. Allegedly, the legion's fighters are held by force, forced to serve almost under torture, and beaten.

Vadim Osmalovsky: Yes, before they really caught, beat, tortured and forced to serve. About 50 years ago. Now they are trying to hold on with long conversations and persuasion, periods for reflection and a “lip”, which is akin to a boarding house from the times of the USSR. It is really difficult to leave the legion in an official way, so more often they simply desert by jumping over the fence, but there is no talk of any violence - the times are not the same, and people are legally savvy, and the legion does not need scandals. They break down mainly during training, less often in the first years of service. They try to keep promising guys. And deserters often exaggerate in order to justify themselves in the eyes of their friends, inventing tales about hazing, which does not exist in the legion. It happens that senior ranks go too far, but such cases are harshly suppressed by the command, because the legion is a contract service, not an obligation.

Nowadays the legion consists of eight regiments and one semi-brigade, where about 8 thousand soldiers and officers serve. Not long ago, two regiments and one special detachment were disbanded on the island of Mayotte (Comoros). The regiments are deployed mainly in France, in the cities of Aubagne, Castelnaudary, Calvi (Corsica island), Orange, Avignon, Nimes and St. Cristol. And also in Djibouti (Africa) and in the overseas department of Guiana (South America), in the city of Kourou.

Legionnaires serving in regiments stationed in France regularly go on business trips and training to Djibouti, Guiana, and Reunion (an island east of Madagascar).

Nikolai Chizhov: Our “training” in Guiana lasted two weeks. Guiana is a jungle where the humidity is probably 120%. It took us 24 hours to get to the base in pirogues and trucks, then the exercises began. The last one was a survival course in the equatorial forest. They explained to us what we could eat from living creatures and plants, who to be afraid of, who to hunt. Then we were thrown into the jungle for three days without provisions, with one rifle per platoon, and one machete, knife, fishing kit and salt per group. On the first day they built a bivouac, on the second they set traps for animals, on the third they made a raft and rafted down the river to their destination. By the way, it is very difficult to build a raft, since almost all tropical trees drown, you need to know non-sinking ones, and there are few of them. Nothing fell into the traps, because “trials” are constantly carried out in that area, so the animals fled and the fruits were eaten. We walked around hungry all the time, eating palm cores. The most desperate ones ate scorpions and grasshoppers. And we slept only in hammocks so that snakes and insects would not bite us. And with a mosquito net, because there are millions of mosquitoes. It was also advisable not to get hurt or scratched, since scratches take a painfully long time to heal due to humidity. Some had to be hospitalized.

Vadim Osmalovsky: One of our “internships” took place in Djibouti, where there is a different specificity - African. In winter the temperature is plus 30-40°C, and in summer it can reach up to 60°C. We arrived just in time for the summer “training” - it was unbearably hot. At night we couldn’t sleep because of the heat; we covered ourselves with wet towels. In general, African “experience” is difficult. We slept little, some could not stand it and left the race - to the infirmary.

Pros and cons

Service in the legion is difficult not only because of the training, but also because the legion is constantly on combat readiness - service can easily be classified as “survival”. What do the legionnaires have for this? Firstly, after three years of service, any legionnaire has the right to submit a request for French citizenship, then his application will be examined by the immigration service, and the result depends on his service record and characteristics. Secondly, the salary, which is not meager or fabulous, as Russian media often report, the truth, as usual, is in the middle.

A new legionnaire with 10 months of experience serving in France receives about 1 thousand euros per month, and in the case of a business trip, for example, to Djibouti - about 2,500 euros per month. Legionnaire paratroopers receive about 1,800 euros in France and a little more than 3 thousand euros. in Africa. If we consider that a standard business trip lasts about four months, then there is no need to talk about the significant enrichment of legionnaires. As for the command staff, for example, a sergeant chief receives about 1,800 euros while serving in France. And to earn 5 thousand euros, you need to be not only a high-ranking officer, but also a father with many children, because the salary is calculated based on the number of children.

Vadim Osmalovsky: With the rank of corporal of the 1REG - engineer and sapper regiment, I earned 1247 euros per month while at my place of deployment. When I was sent to Djibouti for five months, I received 2,900 euros per month. But business trips usually happen once a year, so in a year I earned about 25 thousand euros. Then I was without a family and children, such a salary suited me. Now it would be more difficult: renting an apartment, food, clothes for the whole family... In general, a legionnaire’s salary cannot be called large, but it cannot be called beggarly either.

Contrary to the legends about the fabulous pension of legionnaires, after 15 years of service in the legion they pay 800 euros per month. And in recent years, these 15 years have turned into 17.5. There is also a pension tariff, which depends on where the legionnaire served and how long, and for paratroopers, the number of jumps is counted. However, the tariff does not radically change the amount.

So, is it worth going to serve in the legion and risking your life there for the sake of non-guaranteed French citizenship and a very average salary by European standards? After all, legionnaires are dying, despite the fact that France is not currently conducting military operations. During peace missions, for example.