Howdy

[MeatShank]

Well, it's me, meatshank. Not much to say, I'm a wannabe, likely a never gonna be. I went ahead and bought a ticket to cdg though. I missed my first flight to knock on the door because I got drunk with some friends as a send off and went to jail. Here we are a year later and I scraped by and bought another ticket. I'm a heavy American that eats too much and is softer than a ball of butter and couldn't fight my way out of a paper sack because I've never used my muscles. I just have everything handed to me.

Now that we have that out of the way, I read nogent sur marne was closed due to construction? Is that true? If so, where should I disembark the metro?


(Edit:Maybe it's open. PRTS has it marked as open. They have Gare De Lyon closed till the 2nd of next month or the 22nd of this month, I can't tell, but it'll be open when I hit the tarmac at cdg so it's no skin off my neck. I mean worst case scenario I guess I could just get a bicycle and ditch it at the door. Anybody else think it's kind of neat that the street leading to the doors at De Nogent is named after the liberation of Paris and Stalingrad?)

 

[Nickfury]

That's certainly a new way to introduce yourself. So how are you on pullups and pushups and running? Better be able to do the minimum.
Hope you don't have another send off with friends and just go quietly and under the radar and focused on the prize.
The metro and how to get there are the easiest part, you'll figure it out.

 

[MeatShank]

Thanks Nick. I appreciate your words. I can do what I can do. No more, no less. Should the legion need anyone that can pull electrical wire, crawl in 120*F attics, wade through human excrement fixing plumbing, work on hvac or repair motor vehicles maybe the minimum on the physical will be enough. I'm not entirely convinced though. So I train every day after work.

Oh, and absolutely no sendoff this time. Six months in jail for dwi was a stern lesson.

I was asking about the metro because I read it was closed. Then I read it was open. I read again it was closed a moment ago. Oh well, like you say getting to fort de nogent is the easy part. The hard part will be banging my fat frail fist on that heavy wooden door.

If I get sent home it won't be because I fail the beep test or can't do 4 pull-ups though.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Well, it's me, meatshank. Not much to say, I'm a wannabe, likely a never gonna be. I went ahead and bought a ticket to cdg though. I missed my first flight to knock on the door because I got drunk with some friends as a send off and went to jail. Here we are a year later and I scraped by and bought another ticket. I'm a heavy American that eats too much and is softer than a ball of butter and couldn't fight my way out of a paper sack because I've never used my muscles. I just have everything handed to me.

Just make sure that you have an open return ticket, it might take a week or it might take two weeks but either way you will need that ticket. A word of advice check some of the other posts to see what has been said on physical training.

 

[MeatShank]

Will do boss. I've got a ticket for 5 days but I've got enough in the bank to buy a ticket home if I eat dirt. I'm really not planning on crashing and burning though. I know I won't be the strongest contender in my class but I'm exaggerating my frailness and my body fat because I'm an American and I know everybody thinks we eat garbage and drink heavy syrup all day. Hell I feel like everybody does too. I'm just getting all of that talk out of the way as quickly as possible.

I've read everything I can read and I've done as much physical training as a guy can do without proper motivation. If I ain't what they are looking for adding another push-up or one more landing on the beep test won't make me fit. Better for me to go find out than to spend more time breaking my knuckles on wrenches every day and trying to run 5 miles when I come home exhausted. That diet is murdering me too. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right, but a slice of white bread and a cup of coffee followed by a lunch of a salad and a dinner of a small portion of fettuccine Alfredo with chicken hardly seems like enough. Is it cheating to throw in a glass of milk instead of coffee and a beer with lunch? If it is, I'm doomed.

Anyhow, thanks for the perspective guys and I honestly will do everything in my power to be the best me I can be when I bang on the doors. I ain't got but a month before my plane launches itself at France and I test my mettle. Maybe I've got it, maybe I don't. Only one way to find out.

Bonne Chance?

 

[Nickfury]

Just curious what your motivation is to join? The biggest hurdle will be convincing them that you need the legion and won't desert when things get rough. You sound like you have good skills and a good job. Your skills and work experience could be seen as a plus, but also as a reason why you won't stay if accepted and you get tired of the bullshit. So you need to convince them that you are there for the long term, 5 years or more and won't go running home when things get shitty.
Good luck!

 

[MeatShank]

Well man, to be honest, it's complex. I've wanted to join since I was a kid and I found out about the legion. As the years slip away that seems to get further and further out of my grasp. I tried to join the army after 9/11 and was denied because I was on probation. After I got sent to prison (probation here in the states is not meant to be completed, I got set up by my officer over my community service and he sent me to prison because he was on a power trip) I tried to join and was denied because I had to go to counseling (state mandated) after my mom shot herself and I had a felony (I could get a waiver for one or the other, not both). I nailed down a job and made money and tried to start a family. Things with that didn't pull together either and I developed a drinking habit. That got me 2 dwi's (next one is another felony) and got my license taken away. My boss fired my, I basically just grab work anywhere I can. I have an extensive background and work with my hands so money ain't bad, but it pisses the old lady off. I could go on, but you get the idea. I am a second class citizen here and if I screw up again it's back to the box.

I'm pretty sure the legion wants a short answer though so I figured I'd tell them I was there for the challenge. They don't seem to want to mince words near as I can tell from what I've read and seen on YouTube.

Dude doesn't want to hear my crybaby story about how bad I have it in the land of the free and he's got a hundred other people to talk to that are waiting on me to hurry up.

I'm going to come to de nogent as I am. If they take me, awesome, if not, I'll return home having never tasted military life and losing on a dream. It won't be the end of the world, but I'd much rather get paid to be yelled at than stay here and catch it for free.

To be honest, I wouldn't have even posted here if I hadn't read about nogent sur marne possibly being closed. I honestly basically just wanted to hear a yea or nea on that so I just threw it in at the tail end of my sarcastic introduction. The forum is a pretty replete resource and I don't have much to offer. I'm also not trying to waste anybody's time. I appreciate the hell out of it though, I've been gleaning information off here for a year and a half. I registered on the eighth to download and print the jpegs Don posted on getting to de nogent, nothing more.

 

[Nickfury]

Well man, to be honest, it's complex. I've wanted to join since I was a kid and I found out about the legion. As the years slip away that seems to get further and further out of my grasp. I tried to join the army after 9/11 and was denied because I was on probation. After I got sent to prison (probation here in the states is not meant to be completed, I got set up by my officer over my community service and he sent me to prison because he was on a power trip) I tried to join and was denied because I had to go to counseling (state mandated) after my mom shot herself and I had a felony. I nailed down a job and made money and tried to start a family. Things with that didn't pull together either and I developed a drinking habit. That got me 2 dwi's (next one is another felony) and got my license taken away. My boss fired my, I basically just grab work anywhere I can. I have an extensive background and work with my hands so money ain't bad, but it pisses the old lady off. I could go on, but you get the idea. I am a second class citizen here and if I screw up again it's back to the box.

I'm pretty sure the legion wants a short answer though so I figured I'd tell them I was there for the challenge. They don't seem to want to mince words near as I can tell from what I've read and seen on YouTube.

Dude doesn't want to hear my crybaby story about how bad I have it in the land of the free and he's got a hundred other people to talk to that are waiting on me to hurry up.

I'm going to come to de nogent as I am. If they take me, awesome, if not, I'll return home having never tasted military life and losing on a dream. It won't be the end of the world, but I'd much rather get paid to be yelled at than stay here and catch it for free.

To be honest, I wouldn't have even posted here if I hadn't read about nogent sur marne possibly being closed. I honestly basically just wanted to hear a yea or nea on that so I just threw it in at the tail end of my sarcastic introduction. The forum is a pretty replete resource and I don't have much to offer. I'm also not trying to waste anybody's time. I appreciate the hell out of it though, I've been gleaning information off here for a year and a half. I registered on the eighth to download and print the jpegs Don posted on getting to de nogent, nothing more.

I think you are much better off with the truth and the whole story than with the "adventure" story. They want to know why you NEED the legion and are in no rush to run home when you predictably find out the legion is hard and full of bullshit. Then need a reason to trust you and know you have a reason to stick it out. Marriage could be a negative and they will enlist you as single anyway and you will pretty much have no time to go home during 5 years or it could be difficult at best. Be honest with your desire to be a soldier and to be a legionnaire and your mistakes and criminal record. It will play to your favor a lot more than another American there for "adventure".

 

[MeatShank]

They'll get the truth if they've got time. I'm not looking to take the whole day telling the guy though.

Before I say one word or a lot of words I intend to ask, long or short version. He says short, I say challenge. He says long, I make my points clear and concise without wasting any time.

I appreciate your perspective and advice and I will mull it over a bit more before just dismissing it out of hand. Thank you.

Have you seen any of the interviews on YouTube? That dudes super busy and not interested in details. It doesn't matter who he is either, they're all pretty much the same


Oh, and the marriage, man, if I could afford $8,000 for a lawyer, it'd be a non issue. As is I'll ask after 2 years if I can regularise, then I'll get my divorce.
.

 

[Nickfury]

They'll get the truth if they've got time. I'm not looking to take the whole day telling the guy though.

Before I say one word or a lot of words I intend to ask, long or short version. He says short, I say challenge. He says long, I make my points clear and concise without wasting any time.

I appreciate your perspective and advice and I will mull it over a bit more before just dismissing it out of hand. Thank you.

Have you seen any of the interviews on YouTube? That dudes super busy and not interested in details. It doesn't matter who he is either, they're all pretty much the same


Oh, and the marriage, man, if I could afford $8,000 for a lawyer, it'd be a non issue. As is I'll ask after 2 years if I can regularise, then I'll get my divorce.
.

You get many many interviews. some will be short and some will be long. your reasons need to be consistent in every interview. you can sum up your reasons pretty quickly and much better and more believable than "challenge". Try that you want a military career, a new life and fresh start due to past mistakes and challenge and opportunities that you can't get at home due to your legal troubles.

Sent from my SM-G935S using Tapatalk

 

[MeatShank]

Thanks for the perspective, life has made me somewhat cynical and a little jaded. Watching the recruits get shoved through the first interview made me think they wanted the most condensed possible answer. I also couldn't reconcile a way to boil my situation down to one or a few words. I'm pretty sure I can manage to say a fresh start before I get shoved out the door.

Thanks again man.

It's time for me to eat a slice of wonder bread and drink my coffee. Then it's a 1.2 mile run to the park so I can run 5 miles. After that, I've got some fences to weld today.

I'll be back on later, but this experience on the forum is a bit different than what I expected. Maybe not everybody here does bite.

Cheers