Welcome to the Strelets Forum. Please feel free to discuss any aspect of 1/72 scale plastic figures, not simply Strelets. If you have any questions about our products then we will answer them here.
Since there is so much chatter here about the FFL and it's clearly a popular topic, I've gotta ask if any of you guys ever courted the "romantic" notion of really doing it? Well, it may not be too late!
French Foreign Legion Age Requirements:
What are the age requirements and age limits for joining the French Foreign Legion?
1. The Foreign Legion has two age limit requirements. A minimum age limit for joining in and a maximum age limit.
The minimum age limit for joining the Foreign Legion is 17 years and 6 months. That means you have to be 17 years, 6 months and 0 days old at minimum when you are knocking on the Legion’s gate. If you are not 18 years old and older, parental consent or consent of your legal tutor (if you are an orphan for example) is required on a form available in French Gendarmeries in France, or in French Embassies outside France.
2. The maximum age limit for joining the Foreign Legion is 39 years and 6 months. That means you have to be 39 years, 6 months and 0 days old at the maximum when you are knocking on the Legion’s gate. These are the only age requirements for enlistment in the Legion.
Wow. You can totally screw-up in life 10 times and still there is someone willing to take you in. Ha, the FFL!!!
True story, when I was about 19, I was on my way out the door to join the U.S. Coast Guard. I had just received my Draft Card in the mail and my Randon Sequence Number was 000004. This was during the Vietnam War and I could only think, "Holy Sh*t, you've gotta be kinding. Fu**ing #4." There were only 3 guys in all of the United States more unlucky than me. "Holy G*d Dam* Cow!" What the hell do I do to **** off the good Lord?
My oldest brother grabbed my arm and talked me out it. To tell you the truth, the Coast Guard would have been a good career for me. Not the Army, but the Coast Guard. I'm 62 now and it's the only one regret I have in my life. I should have joined the Coast Guard.
Then at 38, I was questioning my life while living over seas, married and 3 cats. So I looked up the FFL. Bingo! 38 and had to 39 to join up. But, the wife and cats. Do I turn on the gas stove and leave a burning rag to legimize my foolish plan. Ha, ha ha ha ha! It could work!!!!! Nope. Stupid idea.
I tell you, it wasn't the wife I would have missed. It was the 3 cats who were my best buddies, all homeless, who needed me, and I needed them. My Dad left us right after I was born. So I know what it feels life to be abondoned.
Bear with me, I have always loved the photos of FFL'ers with kittens and puppies in their pockets, and even one with a oung donkey on his back! Is that cool?
Garrison, your post reminded me of a book I read about an American who joined the Foreign Legion. He grew to hate it and deserted, going to an American Consulate and claiming he had "lost" his passport (which had been taken when he had enlisted), and was able to make it back home. His family was grateful that he had come back, but over time he found himself missing Legion life more and more, and returned to France and tried to report back to his unit, but was told that he had been declared a deserter and wasn't allowed back in. He actually felt heartbroken about it!
If anyone is interested, the book is Legion of the Lost: the True Experience of an American in the French Foreign Legion, by Jaime Salazar.
I would recommend a book I read a few years ago legionnaire by Simon Murray - the author joined the FFL at 19 it follows his time in the FFL.
Hair raising stories about killing terrorists & Removing the heads for identification purposes & a terrorists head ending up in the legionnaires cooking pot as a joke.
Try as we might, there is a little Legionnaire in all of us.
Who hasn't wanted to make a fresh start, whether with an old girlfriend, or hard to get along with educator or boss, or even some guy on the forums who just wants to look for a fight and found your button.
Maybe some of us, myself included, uses a false name to run away from some kind of past and look for a new start, or just want a new neutral identity.
Personally I don't like the idea of job recruiters using social media to eliminate candidates, but I suppose it does make sense. That's why I don't use my real name on forums.
But I do express my real and sincere appreciation for your opinions and input on topics I am interested in, even if on the fringe of toy soldiering.
So, Mon Legionnaires, long live your dreams, and if you don't get it right the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd time - don't give up. Do what the Hollywood stars do, keep looking for a name that fits your personality, then make youself into a hero!