Everything you want to know about the Legion

Hello, I see that many people don't know a lot about this army corp, so here are a few answers about what it is and how does it work :

- Anybody in the world can join the French Foreign Legion if he's a male, if he passes the psychology tests (The Legion doesn't hire murderers and psychos), if he passes the sport tests and the medical tests (good sight, no major medical problems). Then he will have to train during several months, then he'll get his white képi and be a Légionnaire.

- The Legion used to hire murderers and other human scums, but it was a very long time ago, like in the 19th century. Nowadays the French Army does everything possible to avoid the bad persons. The French Army is a professional army, the Foreign Legion is a part of the French Army, France can't hire mercenaries / murderers / instable people. It's against every laws.

- French Foreign Legion is a French Army Corp, part of the Armée de Terre branch (4 branches, Armée de Terre, Armée de l'Air, Marine Nationale, Gendarmerie Nationale). They work with the other Corps of the French Army (exemples : Chasseurs Alpins, Fusillers Marins, etc...). So the Legion is a part of the French Army, it's not something apart, the légionnaires are really working with other army corps and they all fight together (Sometimes they even fight with France allied countries' armies).

- The French can join the Legion, when they enlist they have several interviews and tests like every other candidates. If they're accepted, they're given a new nationality, most of the time, they get Belgian, Swiss or Canadian identity. But they keep their names. This new identity is only valid inside the Legion. Of course they're not given a Canadian passport for free. I believe it's a kind of tradition, all légionnaires are equal, they're all foreigners. Nowadays, there are many French in the Legion, they're not more than 50% of the total, but many of the officers and many simple soldiers are French.

- What nations are the most represented inside the French Foreign Legion ?
It depends of the historical period. Nowadays there are many Eastern Europeans (Poles, Czeches, Balkans, Ukrainians...) thanks to the fall of Berlin wall. Before them, Spaniards and Portugueses were the majority in the Legion, because of dictators in their countries (Franco, Salazar). After WW2, many Germans joined the Legion. Before WW2 many Legionnaires were Africans. With globalization, there's a trend, there's an awesome number of countries represented in the Legion. Chinese, Indians, Americans, Brazilians, Australians, English, Poles, Russians, everything you can imagine.

Currently the Eastern Euros are very appreciated in the Legion because they're tough, resistant, they don't need comfort. There are many Spaniards within the Officiers, they gained they ranks with hard work and time. They're tough too, they don't complain when there's pain, they've adapted themselves more than others and are very appreciated and respected (by everybody, the officiers, the soldiers, the French, the foreigners).

- What is the Legion used for ?
As a French army corp, the French Foreign Legion has a role like any other army corps (Alpined Hunters were perfect for Afganistan). Legionnaires are sent first in most places because they're trained for that role. They secure the place for the arrival of other French army corps. They were sent first in Côte d'Ivoire (2003 and 2011), in Mali (with other army corps). But they weren't sent first in Astan, in Centrafrica, in Chad, in Kosovo...
Lastly they've been parachuted in the night over Northern Mali airport in order to take it from AQIM.

- Where do they train ?
Their main base in near Marseille in Southern France, but they train in French Guiana too, and in the African deserts, in Djibouti and other places where France has bases.

There are pretty good translated doc on youtube like this one for those who want to learn more about the Legion :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8HaEzmXXik