Foreign Corps: The First Months of Training Are the Most Difficult

I'm not some damn scouting instructor I'm a master sergeant in the Foreign Legion We are at the Foreign Legion I give the orders you are soldiers and you obey I am here and I will not let them leave for the regiment there where my fellow soldiers are in action Someone who doesn't care about the Legion or France You'll soon see how quickly I'll find the experts All the mattresses I have to place them and all the blankets you have to fold them properly with care Move move Now you are going to run I already told you Chef de chambre look here the Syrah stain Come on get moving damn it because you're cutting your damn deals And those are your men go on It's a big problem because I'm always confused I don't understand anything and I have to start speaking French as soon as possible Is it a dream to become a legionnaire Yes that's it Why I'm able to do something with my life to help people Instead of wasting a lot of time doing nothing Are you now ready to die for the Legion or for France Yes I am ready to die for France because I mean It's my fault that I caused so many problems for myself in America but no one else wanted to give me a second chance and now I have the opportunity And I feel that I owe a lot to France If France allows me to become a soldier in France then I am ready to pay France back by doing what I must do The Foreign Legion was created almost two centuries ago The memory The tradition The ritual The new ones will receive their letters of commitment in the museum of Aubagne Second section gathered for the issuance of contracts At your command lieutenant Section repos Volunteer Lim Present sir Volunteer Jacob Present sir Volunteer Wafena Here sir Listen to me You can become a legionnaire The legionnaire is not stupid An intelligent legionnaire Second Legionnaire he is physical He runs does pull- ups climbs the rope He's strong Legionnaire he's strong Third Legionnaire is a good comrade Good friend Here one remembers Remember the fallen legionnaires who died in combat 36 000 dead since its creation in 1831 In 181 years of existence the Legion has been involved in all wars Some of the greatest battles Sébastopol Narvik Bien Phu Colvésie In 1863 in Mexico during the siege of Cameroon 65 legionnaires face 2000 Mexican soldiers The five remaining valid legionnaires agree to surrender on conditio To be able to treat their wounded and keep their weapons The legend was born The Legion never abandons its own This elite unit consisting of 7 600 men is capable of intervening at any time in the hotspots of the world There was Chad Lebanon Yugoslavia and starting in 2001 Afghanistan The Legionnaire candidates who had been selected in Aubagne arrived near Castelnaudary Among them was Lim In this training center the selection will continue You have chosen to come to the Foreign Legion I congratulate you It is a man's choice You start today the four- month training that will make you legionnaires The legionnaire is an elite soldier To train and educate him it takes time and a lot of work For now very few are able to understand French commands First test their endurance One has to be a bit stric For oneself and with everyone here Here in Legion there is no mercy You cannot be soft weak To show one's weaknesses to others It is necessary to be tough Sometimes one must go through it alone and spit blood to be a good legionnaire There is the framework that is there to reframe these young people to get them into the right mood And if they don't have enough mental strength we'll help them push forward to go further This is what is important to go further always further This is the future of the Foreign Legion These are not the tourists here on vacation We will make the U- turns we will pick up Close Catch Let's go We don't speed up We keep the pace Stop playing the victim There's no problem about eating Shut up At the end of their training in 4 months To become a legionnaire they will have to know at least 500 French words G H I R Inventor They are not aligned For five weeks they will live in self -sufficiency on this farm without any contact with the outside world Their only concern is to become warriors Hands like that Hurry up Quickly Stop Natural selection There is no place for the weak Cut it Launch You fool After 15 days of trials Lim keeps up with the pace but he has some issues with his hands Some issues as well with the French Today you pulled that out It's good It's not much is it What obstacle did you have What did you do Crawling Or did you rip it off Down Up Above Yes You were never in the army were you Pardon I didn't understand Small If you are going to work this afternoon put on the gloves Okay you can go I can go officer-sergeant Vafaïna is Malagasy He is 20 years old and like the others he learns one of the first rules of the Legion solidarity It has to be arranged like that It has to be If we look from this side there's nothing that sticks out from there Everyone is scared there because if someone isn't okay everyone ends up getting the cold shower outside so we're a bit stressed here Are you happy to be here Yes Why I really like the Legion And since I've been asked to tell it I'd like to be part of it too It's a difficult journey Yes it's a bit difficult but everyone has gone through it so we have to go through it too to be a legionnaire Everything must be well organized Everything must be the same It must be square neatly arranged The chief sergeant in charge of this training is named Chou They folded it incorrectly it 's not the same It's going well well aligned It smells Put it together in a section at the bottom Indeed the penalty does not wait To arrange some socks some t-shirts some pants and some jackets the result isn't good Okay Ready Action come on Up Down Up Down Tired Downstairs Up Down Yes At the end of the second week a small push for a Belarusian candidate who wants to leave Madam the engagement contract Here it is Okay engagement contract You didn't find what you were looking for that's normal we haven't done anything yet Okay So you'll find don't worry there's no problem There's no problem In the meantime you signed a 5-year contract So since you're a man of honor you're not a kid you're 28 years old you have a military background So you've already had a taste of military life and for me you're committed to pursuing a military career So you're a sensible guy with both feet on the ground and don't worry what you came looking for You will find it they will give it to you no problem Anyway no one is leaving before the end of the instruction for the simple and good reason that he came and committed himself so he is a volunteer he does as everyone else does He follows the instructions correctly It will give him plenty of time to form an idea of what he can expect next Take your contract and you may go Take your contract That's yours Hat on the head In fact the Belarusian candidate can join civilian life whenever he wants The swish of the blouse touches several legionnaire apprentices Suddenly the approach of winter worries them They want to leave because of the cold They have good physical condition mentally I don't know Physically they are good But they want to leave Are you a bit short on mental strength Well I'm a bit short on mental strength That's it 2-3 days that I have been thinking a lot about leaving It's not that I want to leave I miss my family It's hard You have to be mentally strong You have to be strong Outside it's cold hungry no cigarettes And I But at home it's better I have a friend Sometimes I feel guilty because I haven't told my family I was going to come here But I know that in three weeks I will be able to call him and tell him that I'm alive On that day an 8-kilometer march with 15-kilogram packs Vafaina the Malagasy had never seen snow Is it not too complicated to walk in the snow Just like at home there is mud It's a bit like mud Except that mud sticks but it also slips I have my gloves which are full of snow My hand is frozen Then we are going to make knots I don't know how I will manage But I'll figure it out I am a warrior because there are many things we don't see in civilian life We try to resist Even strength is not enough but we must resist Put your arms there Bend down Do you know how to swim Yes I do Men are beginning to harden This is part of the training It's a tough training No it 's more mental than physical Some people handle it well but what counts a lot is the will It's the cold and the fatigue that they start to feel Morally when you move away from friends and family after a while I think about it There are things you are not allowed to do What for example When you commit you aren't allowed to get married for 5 years to not have a car for 5 years mobile phone just at the end of the instruction Every thing we want to do we have to ask for permission from our superiors or the captain Is it a bit heavy sometimes Not yet We haven't had the chance to test it yet That's all We knew the conditions before joining the Legion The farm is a bit of a return to life before to take away our civilian life Like that you'll be able to manage on your own In places where you are in trouble You will manage each time In civilian life You're used to eating every time In the farm there will be no chocolate no mischief If one day you go to war there will be none of that during the gunfire Are you ready to risk your life for the Legion Yes Like me I don't know Then why I have committed myself I want to change my life I have already settled my mind No matter what happens I will resist Tonight it's their first Christmas gift It's us his hat Soon they will receive their white hat It's a lamp You must always know where you're going now that you're in the Legion Merry Christmas to you Wake up boys It's not over it's not because it's snowing that it's the end of the world Command section rest Second section go Rest go Guys you're going to stop bugging us with your relationship stories both of you The two world champions Come here boxers You can't even manage to be in uniform It's serious Here we have two world champions Two idiots who didn't understand If they fight among themselves they don't fight the enemy So I don't want to see that anymore in the section Lim recite the honor code Legionnaire you are a volunteer who serves France with honor and loyalty Every legionnaire is a scoundrel Stop repeat Every legionnaire is a scoundrel Did you understand Yes my informer Legionnaire You are a volunteer who takes care of France with honor and loyalty Every legionnaire is a scoundrel Repeat Every legionnaire is a scoundrel Repeat Did everyone understand Yes my commander Now we will tie them both together like two brothers And it will last as long as it needs to until you understand you idiot Go on you're going to see the boss He will take care of you You will see the chef right away Come here You are dying Here this You will learn to love yourself It will be more constructive than just making a big deal out of it you understand Yes my friend And you There was a confrontation Between them there this morning The reason I don't know that doesn't interest me What interests me is that they understood well We're all going the same way If it's not clear to them the punishment will make it clear Here we go And away we go away we go Come on pick up the pace Hop He's gone I have to take care of everyone The guys won't just stand there like that There Both of them you give them a special mission and you assign a corporal with them You replace Saliban Poitou mission monitor the two teams They are attached They clear the stairs You stay with them This is the Legion There's no fight It's friends damn it He's a friend Understand gringo Why are you stopping here there Who said to stop Forward forward Kneeling one knee It's the end over there Is it some kind of trick a joke Not at all A mockery they did not put a chain on their feet They were not dressed in prison clothes It's just that they understand well that we are here to go in the same direction Even if we have differences we go all out Then we complete the mission You can't necessarily get along with everyone But there are ways to resolve problems It is well known that the legionnaire is a bit of a fighter That is his mindset But you must not aim in the wrong direction Do you understand Yes no sergeant major Here take two jumps and move forward What's wrong What's going on Explain it to me what's going on I can't feel my hands I have the feeling that I'm stuck next to it I have something in my hand that is flowing with heat not stopping for anyone The pain crosses his eyebrow There I truly had hope I really had hope It's good it's not a problem it's not a problem it's not a problem Open your eyes open your eyes open your eyes Roll your eyes look at me It's okay right the doctor will give you some medicine After you walked what do you want there you're usually unconsciously doing PLS what you're usually unconsciously doing PLS Okay you stay here quietly you go up there Are you comfortable like this Yes sir Open your eyes Don't close your eyes there okay stay like that are you cold have you eaten this morning can you walk walk Do you feel your legs Do you feel pain Pain is good okay gently If you see comrades who are not doing well say "corporal sir corporal comrade" like that don't let the comrades and then it's too late got it Now it's over the civilian mindsets We made a correction And forward die That's how it is guys I told you life isn't easy you've chosen a very beautiful profession but it's also very difficult but you have to keep going guys You will see later you will not regret it anyway in life you must have no regrets guys you must never regret anything You have to live at 200 per hour with 200 fis You tell me when it's good He can't eat by himself so he needs help I'm happy to do it it's like it's my duty to do it But his hands hurt but he still eats just as muc 3 4 1 go it's going well there continue I feel good it's just my hands I'm taking back these two fingers a bit I hope they will help me in the hospital The chef told me they have things to help me in very little time I think they are going to use electricity o my fingers to wake me up nerves I am always ready The lieutenant and the officer brought me weapons to protect me from the cold Very good Not too well but I will I will arrive So you have to grit your teeth and move forward I remind you of the importance of the white cap march Whoever does not reach the end of the march does not have his white cap In the groups some are more or less in shape they need help so I'm counting on you for it to go well and for everyone to make it through Come on let's go What's going on I am hungry we go there ahead go Put your bag on the floor Can you walk or can't you walk Feel your bag It's not working anymore but the weight he's going to share his bag he's coming behind me and I'm going to move forward like everyone else you understand You're with your weapon we move forward Go Give him his gun there's no one who is going to carry you here did you understand there's no one who is going to carry you If you can't carry your bag your weapon you have no place here we won't carry you don't think we'll carry you 60 kilometers If you want coffee you walk 60 kilometers no one is going to carry you if you can't carry your own bag I will show you you will see Go It's good Stop psyching yourself out You lift your head you've got guts you've got a man you walk you lift your head let's go move forward we will move forward Don't run comrade walk Otherwise in a few minutes we will bring your bag to you as well Go change the bag let's go Can you walk like that for 60 kilometers Yes sergeant Can you or can't you walk Do you want to walk like that for 60 kilometers I am a sergeant form a column the one in front Come on comrade let's go to the right breathe Listen you've made it this far that's good take a breath just getting this far is already very good We will do our best to get it through Give him a hand put on his hat and we'll go out front put your wand wand on your head move forward ok stop go give a hand change the bag Is it good No sergeant Wake up and look at me What do you feel My problem I see everything like tha Come on let's board Pick up the bag let's go We're going to board Is it over for him there He'll join us at the resupply point There we'll see how it goes He is not able to walk Go up symbol of the elite soldier the white helmet you are connected to the family of the great foreign legion which lost 36 000 of his men since its creation in 1831 The white helmet represents your oath to serve with honor and loyalty and to always respect the legionnaire' s code of conduct second section of the lieutenant the scope Put on your white hats legionnaires all volunteer soldiers we serve France with honor and loyalty each legionnaire is our mother regardless of his nationality his race His religion everything reveals the close solidarity that must unite the world of a beautiful family respect traditions attach importance to discipline and camaraderie ey are the strength courage and truth of the lost proud of your status as a legionnaire everyone in your uniform always elega your behavior is always dignified your corpse is always clean headstrong with rigor yours is yours your soul as mine the most precious o your physical skin's constant support the mission is sacred all executives to the end prolonged at the risk of your life in comba All is in motion without passion without hatred all respects the defeated enemies nothing abandons neither the dead nor the wounded nor blood In 10 days you will go on a march and you will have your captain Okay