How many years can you serve in the French Foreign Legion?

The initial contract is for 5 years. At the end of this first contract, the legionary can choose to continue his career by means of successive contracts whose duration varies between 6 months and 5 years.

What is the longest serving French Foreign Legion?

Alex Rowe (soldier)

What is the retirement age for the French Foreign Legion?

The French military: the average retirement age is 45.7, if the employee has achieved 40 years of payments he is entitled to a pension equal to 75% of the salary of the last 6 months.

Can a US citizen serve in the French Foreign Legion?

The legion today

Men between the ages of 17 and 40, of any nationality, may join the legion. Recruits enlist under an assumed name—a requirement known as the anonymat—but a legionnaire may request to serve under his true name after a year of service.

Does the French Foreign Legion have retirement?

Most legionnaires do one of the following things after they have served their five years: they continue serving for another five years. After fifteen years of service, the Legion pays you a small pension. they go back to their home countries and continue working in their old jobs.

Two weeks to become a legionnaire

What benefits do you get from the French Foreign Legion?

Members of the Légion étrangère are clothed, fed, and housed free of charge for the first few years of their service. They also receive monthly salaries, 45 days of paid vacation, and after three years of service (or a combat wound), Legionnaires can apply for French citizenship.

Do I lose my US citizenship if I join the French Foreign Legion?

Under Section 401(c) of the Nationality Act of 1940 (1940 Act), U.S. nationals would lose their nationality by serving in the armed forces of a foreign state (1) unless expressly authorized by U.S. law and (2) only if the U.S. national had or acquired the nationality of the foreign state.

Are tattoos allowed in the French Foreign Legion?

Tattoos are a long tradition within the Foreign Legion. In France, around 1900, only legionnaires, French soldiers from BILA African battalions (nicknamed the Bat'd'Af), mariners, and prisoners were well-known for being tattooed. So, there is no problem with you having a tattoo if you want to become a legionnaire.

What happens if a American join the French Foreign Legion?

Joining the French Foreign Legion is a pathway to citizenship. However, it is not possible to do this for the initial three years of service. The legion's website says that if "he serves well, he will be entitled to a residence permit at first, the nationality will be given to him conditionally.

Can I join the French Foreign Legion at 40?

A minimum age, a legal age, and a maximum age for getting accepted into the Legion's selection process. The minimum age to join the Foreign Legion is 17 years and 6 months. That means you must be at least 17 years, 6 months, and 0 days old when you are knocking on the Legion's gate.

Can you leave French Foreign Legion anytime?

6. Q: Do I have evenings, weekends, and holidays off in the Foreign Legion? A: Once you've completed your four-month basic training, you are allowed to relax or leave your military base during your free time, and travel around France during weekends and holidays, if you are not on duty.

Do you get a new identity when you join the French Foreign Legion?

Yes. A French can join the Foreign Legion. He is just going to change his nationality while he is hired to comply with the statutes of the legion.

Does the French Foreign Legion see a lot of combat?

Throughout its long history since its inception on March 9, 1831, elements of the French Foreign Legion have engaged in combat on the behalf of France and its interests with distinction. The Foreign Legion has seen battle on five different continents against numerous foes.

Is the French Foreign Legion like the Marines?

"The French Foreign Legion has a lot of similarities to the Marine Corps as far as esprit de corps." Marines and sailors with the 26th MEU train alongside the French Legionnaires.

Can an American felon join the French Foreign Legion?

Since its founding in 1831, the Legion has become the one place of escape for those with haunted pasts. Men with criminal records, shady business dealings, or deserters from their home country's armies were accepted into the ranks, with no questions asked.

Why do the French Foreign Legion have beards?

Beard (French: Barbe): Since the pionniers were the first to mount combat assaults, their life expectancy was very minimal. Accordingly, from that principle, they reserved the right, when deploying to combat, to not shave and would come back bearded when they survived.

Do you have to speak French to be in the French Foreign Legion?

What's really interesting about the FFL (French Foreign Legion) however, is that despite amazingly tough physical and mental requirements, one cannot join unless one learns to speak French, fast, very fast. New recruits are given about 4 months to learn – operational – French.

Can French Foreign Legion be married?

After a number of years he will progress in his career and can legitimately start a family. A legionary will only be allowed to marry after being in good standing with the following conditions: - To serve under his true identity (thus to be regularized of military situation);

What crimes does the French Foreign Legion not accept?

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. Today, he said, it does not take those with a record of very serious crimes such as “murder, drug trafficking or terrorism”.

What happens if you fail French Foreign Legion?

In the event of a definitive failure in the selection, this means that the command of the Foreign Legion considered that despite the qualities of the candidate, he does not have the necessary skills to become a legionnaire. This decision is irrevocable, and the candidate then leaves the selection process.

What is the American equivalent of the French Foreign Legion?

The Marine Corps, Counterinsurgency, and America's Answer to the French Foreign Legion.

What is the height required for French Army?

Believe it or not, the Foreign Legion has NO height or weight requirements nor official limits. The only aspect the Legion takes into account is your Body Mass Index (BMI), which can simply be calculated using your height and weight. The BMI easily determines whether you aren't obese or skinny.

Where are the French Foreign Legion currently deployed?

Since March 16, 2022, the men of the Foreign Legion Detachment in Mayotte (DLEM) have been deployed to the Glorioso Islands, a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean, located north of Madagascar.

Is Foreign Legion training hard?

All applicants absorb the Legion's culture during their Basic Training at the Fourth Foreign Infantry Regiment near Castelnaudary, in southern France. Légionnaires call it “The Farm”. 1400 men went through this legendary boot camp in 2021—a training so tough that only one in ten men passed the test.