mark wake
Legionnaire
a French Foreign Legion Forum
Welcome! Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Everyone
- Thread starter DCLXVI
- Start date
Because they plan to have their 700 additional recruits by that date, after that it is back to normal
practically, it means that before July, your chances are about 1.5/10 and when they have their 700 guys it will fall back to 1/10 (number of selected)
jwaltos
Legionnaire
There were a few times we had to stack them four high. This was in Peron's company.
I slept on the top bunk for a bit and you made sure you stayed centered. I remember one person falling out
and breaking their arm in one of the other Cie's but can't recall if it was a 3 or 4 decker.
Red tee shirts, I also served under him, he gave (recommended to the CdC) me thirty days (Article 333) as a fut-fut. I next saw him in COMLE whilst taking over a message from the museum. The Farm was La Jasse and the yellow tee shirts was Bel Air if I remember rightly.
jwaltos
Legionnaire
You have a good memory Cos. Do these names sound familiar...S/C Papka or Lt. Marty? There was a tough little Italian S/C who liked to give ‘cacahuètes’ at that time, but I forgot his name. He moved up in rank during the following 2-3 years.
Could be Silvas, short heavy bald guy? He became our chef de section as a S/C before getting promoted to Adjudant in Castel. I say him again years later in 5 RE A/C.
jwaltos
Legionnaire
The Italian S/C was Chef Mari, not heavy nor bald. He was also a connoisseur. He took our group of EV's to a good restaurant in Castel and showed us a few things: not to fill up on bread no matter how good it looked or hungry we were, how to recognize a good pâté, how to order off the menu, wine choice... and etiquette.
Just thought of it... ‘Chef’ may have been a double entendre.
Just thought of it... ‘Chef’ may have been a double entendre.
I know the guy you mean. He later went to 13e DBLE circa 1990. He was palls with the infirmary chef, whose name escapes me but began with an M and the responsible of the ordinaire whose name also began with an M. The 3 of them bought a Jeep and had seat covers made with M on them. They also bought or had shares in a restaurant in town.
Because everyone was complaining about the quality of food and some tipped off the SM (military security) about the restaurant there was a huge control in the regiment by outside military authorites. In the kitchen of the ordinaire they opened the A/C (M) personnel canteen and found AK 47s.
I saw the A/C years later when the REP cie stayed overnight in Puyloubier after finishing CEITO. He was Cch M working as a cook in the kitchens.
@Joseph : I know you don't own your rank in the Legion and can be busted in a second, but I thought that this was not the case for an A/C ! So how could yours be reduced to CCH ?
Loustic, I'm not sure how it works, but I can tell you that in this particular case he was busted from A/C to Cch. He would have gone in front of a conseil d'enquête (military discipline hearing) and perhaps, with mitigating circumstances, was reduced in rank rather than thrown out. Perhaps up until that incident he had an exemplary career and/or married with children. Either way there was no way he was going to keep his rank of A/C.
Do you know if he ever regained his rank of A/C or at least became again NCO ?
I doubt it, once bust down to MDR it's not very likely. I know 3 Sgts that got bust down to Cch for disciplinary matters. One was an Englishman who was in my section as a Sgt in 3 REI. As soon as I got there I was warned not to lend him any money. He never spoke English to me so I was surprised two months after getting there to get a call to the guard room by him in English. He told ,me to go and see him at the office.
Not sure what I could have done, I let the guard commander know I was going to the Cie and would be back in a few minutes. There was only the English Sgt in the office. He was friendly enough and then started to explain to me how his wife had lost her cheque book and their bank card had a problem and... could I loan him 3000F. I explained that my carnet CNE (legion savings book) hadn't arrived and that I was only getting an avance on my wages, which was totaly true.
He then just told me to get back to the guard room.
To cut a long story short when he was due to return to France after his 2 years. Another Sgt in the section got wind of the fact that he owed a hell of a lot of money to the legionnaires in the section. He got us all lined up and told each of us to write down how much he owed.
The list was handed to the SM (regiemntal gestapo) we were all convoqued one by one. They asked us all if the Sgt had asked us for money. I related my story but a few had loaned him a lot of money. It also came to light that some of the legionnaires that had done their 2 years and already gone back to France never got their money back.
It soon got out after the disciplinary hearing that he had been busted down to Cch. However because he was accompanied by his family, he could keep his stripes up until he got on the plane, so to speak, as you flew in civvies. But once he got off the plane he was to be wearing Cch stripes.
He was from REC and I met up with an English guy from there in Aubagne. After swopping places we'd been to etc, it turned out that he knew the Sgt, now, Bch (brigadier chef). He was divorced and ended up in the psyciatric ward of Laveron military hospitol.
M
Martin Scott
Unregistered
I remember a fresh SGT in 3 REI who did not organize the gate guard to the satisfaction of the Colonel : the Colonel was 5 minutes early and the SGT was not waiting for him. The SGT got busted down to CPL but regained his stripes later. But he was only a SGT, and we had changed Colonel !
Not to confuse 'retrograde' to being bust.
"Au temps pour moi"
But the result is the same : this legionnaire went to stage-sergent, got (painfully the told me) his SGT stripes and was back to square CPL after one or two weeks. Our Colonel was a bastard !
M
Martin Scott
Unregistered
Lucky your not a sardine are chef de corps was a complete bastard as well. Although if you were straight with him he was with you.
jwaltos
Legionnaire
Cos, thank you very, very much for following up. I encountered him as my section S/C and later met him as Adj. I remember a story or two he told about his past where I was in earshot and karma may have been playing catch-up.
Here are two more guys that you may or may not have heard of, (at that time) Sgt. Arquero, a Venezuelan and a S/C, a smaller, tough Mexican who would run lifting his knees higher than the average bloke would - this was in Castel. Arquero wanted to go to Djibouti for the prime and he had something of a volatile personality. One of his mannerisms was that he would walk up to a Legionnaire who had pissed him off, all the while with a bright smile on his face, then smash him in the mouth. He was competent but he also had set me up more than a few times with conflicting orders pushing me to snap on him (which I never did (but was sorely tempted and he knew it)).
About he Mexican S/C whose name I can't recall, when I was an EV doing the Cooper, he kicked me in the ass on every loop shouting `mou` and a few other choice expletives. I met him years later in Nogent during a leave near the end of my contract. He was passing through as an Adj. or A/C and was being treated for throat cancer. We talked and I told him of my intention to leave. He tried to talk me out of it and as we parted he said that the Legion was losing one of its best. If you knew this fellow this was not something he said lightly and it took me somewhat aback. In any case, I hope he is still alive and enjoying his well deserved retirement.
As I'm typing these words from the beach house (in the Bahamas) we're in, I'm looking at turquoise ocean a stone's throw away. A couple of nights ago we met a group of ~40 people from Paris where they had an evening meal at a local beach restaurant. I was able to converse with a few people who were my age but I had to struggle here and there. They left the following day and as `ambassadors` of France, our parting impression of them was that they were aloof bordering on arrogant. My wife and our friends got a taste of France (again) and I was reminded of the importance of just being nice..eh.
Jwaltos, maybe I came across them but don't recognise the names. Funny enough there are a couple of NCOs I'd like to come across now who used to hide behind their ranks. But then perhaps it's best to let bad memories stay just that, memories and keep moving forward.
jwaltos
Legionnaire
Yes.
And that's why as a somewhat newly minted grandpa I can look into the eyes of our little tyke and describe all the good things to look forward to as he grows up.
Thank you again for responding because it does help me put a few things to rest. Then as now certain discourses can be posted publicly and others cannot. Personally, I like the karma concept by whatever means this balance occurs. It's always a pleasure crossing paths unexpectedly with people from your past that you knew as decent because the longer we live the fewer there are. As for those not so decent, life circumstances change but character usually does not.
Thanks again Cos.
And that's why as a somewhat newly minted grandpa I can look into the eyes of our little tyke and describe all the good things to look forward to as he grows up.
Thank you again for responding because it does help me put a few things to rest. Then as now certain discourses can be posted publicly and others cannot. Personally, I like the karma concept by whatever means this balance occurs. It's always a pleasure crossing paths unexpectedly with people from your past that you knew as decent because the longer we live the fewer there are. As for those not so decent, life circumstances change but character usually does not.
Thanks again Cos.