The following story was written by a EV of 29 years old that went to Aubagne to selection and gave up voluntarily before finishing the whole process. The guy did not became rouge. Once he was in Aubagne he realized that the Legion was not for him and walked out from the selection after 4 days.
You can find it, here:
https://es.scribd.com/doc/112645900/YO-ME-PRESENTE-A-LA-LEGION-EXTRANJERA
It's a very worthy story to read for people thinking to join. The story has good insights and for that reason I want to share it with all non spanish sepakers
Here is the translation:
Whoever may be interested in this experience has to know that everything I write is conditioned by the expectations that I had generated with the information I used on the internet, for the desire to do something for what time had already passed and for a personal need of realization. Therefore, I warn that this is my experience with its corresponding conditions and particularities that in no case may be those of third persons or those that you will experience, reader, if it is your desire to live this.
Fortunately or unfortunately my decision to join military life was late, in Spain the age to access the armed forces is limited to 29 years old. However, someone told me about the French Foreign Legion, which I thought was only an epic body already in history. But it was not so, I searched the internet and my path was illuminated again, I still had a last opportunity to live the adventure that inside me always wanted to live. The truth is that the information available on the internet was not very clear, too many gaps about the selection process, details that for which we were weighing the vital decisions: where to present? How, when, what to carry, what not to carry?
Deciding wheter or not to join the Legion was not easy task, I had to weigh many factors, my family situation, my work situation and my age. Well, I was single, with a stable job, but nothing exciting and with 30 years. And the age was important because even though the age limit is 40 years, they make it clear that the candidates with more possibilities are those who are between 20 and 30 years.
Once I decided to join I didn't like going without a Plan B, the economic situation in Spain in 2012 was not very good and saying goodbye to a job to go to an unintended future was not a very good idea. For this reason I took 20 days of holidays from the job before going to Augbane.
I booked a flight straight to Marseille on April 16, 2012. I had been advised to introduce myself in PILE Perpignan. But I decided to introduce myself directly to Marseilles, because time could run against me and the language did not matter to me. Later I discovered that it would have been better to introduce myself first to Perpignan.
During the previous 8 months I prepared myself physically, many miles in the legs, many push ups, many tractions, many abs. The tests seemed easy on paper, but you had to run a minimum of 2600 meters in 12 min, make at least 5 tractions on the fixed bar and surpass the Luc-Leger in at least 6 sequences. You really have to be trained to overcome this.
I arrived on April 16 and there I was, at Madrid-Barajas airport, ready to leave behind my life, my family, my friends, my partner ... everything, because when one decides to go to the LE has to be clear That everything is behind, if one can pass the entrance tests and the training period, practically disappears from the world
I arrived at night in Marseille and had a reserved pension because until 8:00 am the recruiting centers dont not open and my appointment was at the same time the next day, of course, although it is not essential, it is advisable to make an appointment, Festivities and you can touch wait several days.
Following the barracks at Marseilles, the gracious lieutenant drove me to the general headquarters of Aubagne, surrounded by enormous mountain ranges. Once inside, they took the inventory of my belongings, by the way, who had not brought a phone, as they were advised not to wear it, the candidates do not have to be allowed to communicate with the outside during the period of instruction.
Another interview, now I was asked again my marital status, my police background (here they do not want anyone who has had to do with drug trafficking, rape or crimes of this caliber). I assure you that they have the means to investigate it and if INTERPOL sends an unfavorable report, you will probably return to your home, perodetenido. If everything is fine, you become a candidate, you still have some time until you want your history and the truth of your data in my case were 24 hours waiting in a zone separated from the candidates who were already testing, I was still uncivil . During that day we only had to wait, but not much, in a barrack adapted as a games room, we could socialize with the other candidates. There he met a very wealthy Guinean, living in Spain, two Brazilians who had elite sidomilitaries in his country, a Spaniard who had broken fuses and who for some reason was thrown on the first day, ah, and a Mongolian who spoke nothing More your language. The fact is that almost everyone who was there spoke at least two languages, all between the ages of 23 and 30. The comradeship began from this moment on. We had to do some work, after the meal we were ordered to lift the carpet from that game room, which cost us to remove at least 2 hours. We dine and sleep at 22:00, always separated from the candidates and volunteers by a fence,
On the morning of April 18 we were woken up at 6:00 a.m. for breakfast and at 10 am they were already calling the selected for the next phase. We got 10 of them, took our backpacks and went to quartermaster, they undressed us, they gave us two changes, a black shirt and a tracksuit. If you did not have sneakers they would give you an appropriate ones. They give you a bag with a bar of soap, a razor, two rolls of toilet paper, toothbrush and toothpaste, sheets. If you have some money you can only have a maximum of 50 € in cash, the rest of belongings are stored in a warehouse. We were already candidates and we were no longer civilians.
We immediately went to the area where the rest of the candidates were (with a green shirt and shirt) and with the volunteers (in camouflage suit and already selected for the training period at Castelnaudary). They made the first tests that same morning, the psychotechnician, in which the questions were spinning, mathematical and spatial vision. The psychological, with personal questions, complex and eliminatory. In these tests 60% of the candidates fall and I can say that it is here where one demonstrates if one has a well-furnished head. Out of the 10 of my group, there are only 5, the rest home. However there were two girls who had already appeared before and had passed this test, so they noticed that repeat it. Immediately we did the Luc-Leguer and the 7 tractions, then I realized that I had wounded in my preparation. It was not trying to do the minimum, but to have the best score, well, the fact is that I passed it to my score in the psychotechnicians. If you do not pass the physical tests you have to wait 6 months to be able to present yourself again and if you do not pass the psychology you do not have another opportunity until 18 months later. We joined with the group, about 60 candidates plus 30 volunteers. This is the moment when one begins to know what the selection tests really.
I spoke with everyone I could, because not everyone spoke English or Portuguese or Spanish, but in fact I was dedicated to analyzing the situation, the type of people who were there, what their lives counted, their purposes, the results of their lives.
You can find it, here:
https://es.scribd.com/doc/112645900/YO-ME-PRESENTE-A-LA-LEGION-EXTRANJERA
It's a very worthy story to read for people thinking to join. The story has good insights and for that reason I want to share it with all non spanish sepakers
Here is the translation:
I WENT TO THE FOREIGN LEGION
FIRST PART
FIRST PART
Whoever may be interested in this experience has to know that everything I write is conditioned by the expectations that I had generated with the information I used on the internet, for the desire to do something for what time had already passed and for a personal need of realization. Therefore, I warn that this is my experience with its corresponding conditions and particularities that in no case may be those of third persons or those that you will experience, reader, if it is your desire to live this.
Fortunately or unfortunately my decision to join military life was late, in Spain the age to access the armed forces is limited to 29 years old. However, someone told me about the French Foreign Legion, which I thought was only an epic body already in history. But it was not so, I searched the internet and my path was illuminated again, I still had a last opportunity to live the adventure that inside me always wanted to live. The truth is that the information available on the internet was not very clear, too many gaps about the selection process, details that for which we were weighing the vital decisions: where to present? How, when, what to carry, what not to carry?
Deciding wheter or not to join the Legion was not easy task, I had to weigh many factors, my family situation, my work situation and my age. Well, I was single, with a stable job, but nothing exciting and with 30 years. And the age was important because even though the age limit is 40 years, they make it clear that the candidates with more possibilities are those who are between 20 and 30 years.
Once I decided to join I didn't like going without a Plan B, the economic situation in Spain in 2012 was not very good and saying goodbye to a job to go to an unintended future was not a very good idea. For this reason I took 20 days of holidays from the job before going to Augbane.
I booked a flight straight to Marseille on April 16, 2012. I had been advised to introduce myself in PILE Perpignan. But I decided to introduce myself directly to Marseilles, because time could run against me and the language did not matter to me. Later I discovered that it would have been better to introduce myself first to Perpignan.
During the previous 8 months I prepared myself physically, many miles in the legs, many push ups, many tractions, many abs. The tests seemed easy on paper, but you had to run a minimum of 2600 meters in 12 min, make at least 5 tractions on the fixed bar and surpass the Luc-Leger in at least 6 sequences. You really have to be trained to overcome this.
I arrived on April 16 and there I was, at Madrid-Barajas airport, ready to leave behind my life, my family, my friends, my partner ... everything, because when one decides to go to the LE has to be clear That everything is behind, if one can pass the entrance tests and the training period, practically disappears from the world
I arrived at night in Marseille and had a reserved pension because until 8:00 am the recruiting centers dont not open and my appointment was at the same time the next day, of course, although it is not essential, it is advisable to make an appointment, Festivities and you can touch wait several days.
Following the barracks at Marseilles, the gracious lieutenant drove me to the general headquarters of Aubagne, surrounded by enormous mountain ranges. Once inside, they took the inventory of my belongings, by the way, who had not brought a phone, as they were advised not to wear it, the candidates do not have to be allowed to communicate with the outside during the period of instruction.
Another interview, now I was asked again my marital status, my police background (here they do not want anyone who has had to do with drug trafficking, rape or crimes of this caliber). I assure you that they have the means to investigate it and if INTERPOL sends an unfavorable report, you will probably return to your home, perodetenido. If everything is fine, you become a candidate, you still have some time until you want your history and the truth of your data in my case were 24 hours waiting in a zone separated from the candidates who were already testing, I was still uncivil . During that day we only had to wait, but not much, in a barrack adapted as a games room, we could socialize with the other candidates. There he met a very wealthy Guinean, living in Spain, two Brazilians who had elite sidomilitaries in his country, a Spaniard who had broken fuses and who for some reason was thrown on the first day, ah, and a Mongolian who spoke nothing More your language. The fact is that almost everyone who was there spoke at least two languages, all between the ages of 23 and 30. The comradeship began from this moment on. We had to do some work, after the meal we were ordered to lift the carpet from that game room, which cost us to remove at least 2 hours. We dine and sleep at 22:00, always separated from the candidates and volunteers by a fence,
On the morning of April 18 we were woken up at 6:00 a.m. for breakfast and at 10 am they were already calling the selected for the next phase. We got 10 of them, took our backpacks and went to quartermaster, they undressed us, they gave us two changes, a black shirt and a tracksuit. If you did not have sneakers they would give you an appropriate ones. They give you a bag with a bar of soap, a razor, two rolls of toilet paper, toothbrush and toothpaste, sheets. If you have some money you can only have a maximum of 50 € in cash, the rest of belongings are stored in a warehouse. We were already candidates and we were no longer civilians.
We immediately went to the area where the rest of the candidates were (with a green shirt and shirt) and with the volunteers (in camouflage suit and already selected for the training period at Castelnaudary). They made the first tests that same morning, the psychotechnician, in which the questions were spinning, mathematical and spatial vision. The psychological, with personal questions, complex and eliminatory. In these tests 60% of the candidates fall and I can say that it is here where one demonstrates if one has a well-furnished head. Out of the 10 of my group, there are only 5, the rest home. However there were two girls who had already appeared before and had passed this test, so they noticed that repeat it. Immediately we did the Luc-Leguer and the 7 tractions, then I realized that I had wounded in my preparation. It was not trying to do the minimum, but to have the best score, well, the fact is that I passed it to my score in the psychotechnicians. If you do not pass the physical tests you have to wait 6 months to be able to present yourself again and if you do not pass the psychology you do not have another opportunity until 18 months later. We joined with the group, about 60 candidates plus 30 volunteers. This is the moment when one begins to know what the selection tests really.
I spoke with everyone I could, because not everyone spoke English or Portuguese or Spanish, but in fact I was dedicated to analyzing the situation, the type of people who were there, what their lives counted, their purposes, the results of their lives.
You could even just send an email from my profile as it is an option you can choose when setting up your Cervens profile to allow people to email you at your personal email rather than PM. Give it a shot.
