FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION RECRUITMENT

[Music] at the recruitment center of the foreign [Music] legion [Music] for whoever wants to enter into the foreign legion it is here that it all begins but before wearing the legionnaires famous white kipi there will be many severe hurdles to overcome eight thousand candidates come from around the world every year but only one thousand are selected the first step the recruiting office yes so you want to enter the foreign 130 nationalities 7 600 soldiers the majority from eastern europe and asia for many they come in the hope of a better life me i'm from the streets and to be honest i've been in and out of jail i'm hoping my luck will change and maybe that the legion will help me [Applause] as this candidate there are many who want to start their lives over again the foreign legion can offer them a second chance and afterwards i'll be a man every day the recruiting office receives an average 15 candidates of all social and cultural origins why do you want to join the foreign [Music] one of the particularities of the foreign legion is the obligatory change of identity even for french citizens as you know when you enter the foreign legion you're going to be recruited under a stated identity therefore i'm going to give you a new name your declared place of birth will be ankara your father's first name is going to change also let's call him abdel labriel don't worry after you'll have the papers so that you can remember all of this to join up the french must become foreigners besides here one doesn't say french one says gaul the legion gives them a french-speaking nationality swiss belgian canadian or mona guess so you're going to join under canadian nationalities does that suit you [Music] on this morning there are six candidates looking to join and face the selection procedure that is going to last 10 days nivikov ukrainian age 27 liedelson brazilian 30 montejanu romanian 26 rudin from kazakhstan 18 zuba ivory codes croatian 27 and bernie french swiss 29. right now i'm going to establish the basics this is not a holiday camp you're here from two to ten days shut in no phone calls no leave so if there's anyone who thinks he can't cope with that you can leave right now it's not even worthwhile continuing to continue undress in the barracks civilian clothes are forbidden they may not yet be part of the military but they receive a uniform of sorts a simple tracksuit when you hear your name reply everything [Music] to belong to the foreign legion one must make a clean sweep of the past go down there personal belongings jewelry cell phones the legion confiscates all for the duration of the training that's a tough start and it's only the beginning of the tests that are about to get underway now three selective tests and potential elimination straight away let me explain a psycho technical test those that have the mental aptitude of a mollusk you will get no further therefore if the result of the test is less than 10 you'll be out 10 minutes one asks you to run a minimum of 2 700 meters in less than 12 minutes those of you who are tortoises or have built-in brakes you'll be packing your bags for the less fit the verdict is instantaneous a little to put them in the spirit they've done all right and it's good for them healthy you continue until you make the grain well given all the tests that await them they need to be in good shape [Music] the group passed the first three tests and has won a session at the hairdresser their hair is cut the legion way it's another step on the path to the coveted white kepi the regulation two millimeters that makes everybody look the same [Applause] [Music] [Applause] do you feel like your legionnaires well nearly nevertheless there's a feeling of unity since now we're all in the same boat we're starting to bond as a unit [Music] there are those who cleared the first hurdle and those who didn't because they failed one of the first three tests the legion calls them the repressed for a lot of these men it's back to square one a simple train ticket in their pockets and ahead of them an uncertain future for the group that stays on there's no question of claiming victory more tests await them stand to attention in two ranks line up come on come on now's the somebody won't go back home nobody sure okay warm up outside go go real patties [Music] the psychological pressure never ends mantayanu zubair liedelson rudin nivikov and bernay all are going to prove they have their place in the legion the corporal in charge of recruits makes them wait for half an hour without moving and facing the sun people they wait and one observes if well they know they understand that this is part of the selection process come on wake yourselves up come on form up facing me in a column no that's crap wake yourselves up that is over here now better better well i hope that they're as motivated as i was when i arrived here i dreamt of wearing the white and now i do i think for them it's the same thing they think of africa the desert and all of that a legionnaire's life for me someone that comes to the legion is someone that's looking for adventure to be a man to spend life with a white kp one of just 7 000 in the whole world it's something sacred but you have to earn the right to become one of the few in addition to the tests every candidate is subjected to several interviews well in terms of safety we don't take recruits who have murdered or committed perverted crimes people with a serious criminal past croatian nationality do you speak french where did you learn you're french i was born in french speaking africa in the ivory coast to be more precise and that's where i learned french so how come you're croatian [Music] i i did once but that was a very long time ago do you have any debts or do you owe people money no so why are you here you have no problems seems to me there could be a little love story that's gone wrong here does she miss you since you separated well i asked him to be very precise because i felt it might have been uh his incentive a sentimental disappointment shall we say and maybe it was the case there's always a reason it doesn't last a very long time usually and anyway i'm not really sure if that was his incentive all candidates undergo several interviews and answer the same questions every time their answers will be checked and analyzed their pasts will be studied carefully and to this end the recruiting officers have access to interpol police records [Music] searching for individuals on the police's computer files takes barely a few hours if the legion refuses serious crime it turns a blind eye to lesser misdemeanors for a few it's a chance to set the counter to zero when someone is accepted into the legion his secrets whatever they are are nobody else's business hurry up hurry up now we're seeing uh the code of honor of the legionnaires is i've told you take coffee black coffee that gives you the knack but this break up learning the honor code is obligatory it's also the means to check the cohesion of the group bernie the french-speaking recruit knows he has to help houdin after one week of tests and observation what's at stake is getting the work contract [Music] okay the committee can begin its work uh we've got 30 candidates today and we can only take 17 of them in theory okay let's start with the first bernie is communicative educated honest works hard good incentive yes good uh he's already passed the military degree course he's spent six years in the regular forces i have a favorable opinion too good candidate the only question mark is a dubious love affair he thought seriously about it before making his decision to come here [Music] he said it was all over [Applause] okay well let's see okay volunteer recruit nibikov uh very motivated uh he never even got his visa so he he made his own way here so he's very determined also receive their employment contracts thanks they are no longer candidates they're now successful recruits a first step and one that allows them to start their training in earnest they have now signed up to serve five years with honor and loyalty but even the slightest wrong move and they'll be shown the way out vortex jacket in the bag they received their first pack the fighting man's kit and also the famous white kippy of the legionnaires the kp is still wrapped in plastic don't touch the kippy [Music] they'll get the chance to try their white cappies but just for a few minutes just to try it on we haven't the right to wear it yet it's just a try we're still not legionnaires yet no long way to go they'll earn the right to wear their white kp in one month under the condition they pass their first phase of training in the meanwhile they have the legion's green beret a beret that zuba has difficulty in putting on his head it's not a tractor driver's bearing it's the legion's berry put it on properly the next day the recruits are leaving for castel nodre near toulouse for four months training four months you are going to work hard and i'll see close the bags and put the bags on the cabinets on the eve of departure there are those that are happy and those like zuba who have their doubts oh some apprehension because it's uh it's a new start it'll be completely different from here at aubameyang are you happy to go to castle yes yes very good i see my dream today here i i go to the castle and after the castle i will make my dream to be a legend [Music] jambian fu kolwezy the foreign legion's battle honours are part of history it's maybe this prestige that continues to attract the young from all over the world looking for adventure but for the new generation the legion also means a secure employment at least for five years i came here for discipline friendship and money of course but if you don't like the life in army you you cannot do this you cannot be in the legion if you don't like the army how do you know that you like the army i like the army because i like it since i was i was young i see movies when i was young little the approach to castel notre the train passes the danju district the foreign legion's instruction and training center [Applause] no fear no no no fear if you have fear you cannot do nothing without fear mama papa playstation here not playstation here from us near the barracks in a farm cut off from the rest of the world he said this is where the recruits spend their first month of training [Music] if you're not tired you can redo the whole circuit okay the strain of military training is the first real test for the platoon on the program sport assault courses weaponry night exercises [Music] the recruits learn to go beyond their physical and mental limits i want to see how far i can go psychologically is at any moment the instructors could send home those that don't make the grade so the recruits dig in foreign if one doesn't apply pressure they're going to let themselves go i i would say that for this profession that's no good you can't let them run free and probably free isn't the right word but they can't take it easy but even after a long hard day there's no letting up everything is done by the clock at speed speed speed the whole time you have to rush to eat rush to wash rush to dress and especially rush if you want to use the toilets do you think it would be like this i knew it was going to be relentless and it's only just the beginning really finally it's time for bed but before that there's yet another room inspection i don't want to see your towels like that ever again where's your towel and this isn't made up well at all all right come on press ups again come on that's dirty under there that's terrible okay sleep now don't you the recruits have earned a good night's sleep but here again there are strict rules sorry i have to go to sleep now finally lights out is at 22 at the start the hardest part of the training is not the chores or the physical work but learning french most of the recruits are starting from scratch the aim here is really quite simple at the end of the course each soldier should know about 400 words of basic vocabulary which comes to about 100 words a month are from zero to five five means fluent and zero means nothing so i put a five with a zero four with a one and so on it usually works okay enough class work go to the sports ground and uh those who speak french please help out those who don't and it's been quite easy to pick it up again for the the legion is french for france we're fighting for france and for the flag we'll be defending the french one month later on the assault course and the volunteers are beginning to look like legionnaires this is the hostile zone now now you need to reach that small bend over there here's the drill okay come on [Applause] don't forget you're working in teams of two the aim of this timed obstacle course is to check how well the teams work together what counts is not finishing first but finishing together each man has to watch the others back [Music] best screaming of orders the recruits reflexes are subjected to the kind of situation they might face in battle [Music] some basic stuff here checking our reflexes stuff that we've forgotten you know life's been too soft we've lost the skills to to watch to to listen and react to danger [Music] after 20 minutes zuba is showing signs of fatigue [ __ ] around between seven and eight now i'll move it up put it up at 140 though what are you looking for here well there are reactions when they're exhausted uh you see they're out of breath they're tired we'll see how coherent they are at the end of the exercise that's hard you're punished physically we don't get much sleep anyway and now we've got to give maximum effort you need every last drop of energy you know overcome the pain just do it here after four weeks of training it's time to take stock by now the instructors know the recruits and their personalities and to decide if they have the right stuff to wear the white kp is special he's already got military experience so on that score is doing well [Music] he's also very good at uh helping out his comrades and that's excellent really excellent intellectual types a kind of coffee shop philosopher he likes to think things through but he's been getting down to it lately i think he's all set he'll be going to the second regiment of legion paratroopers [Music] but it's a bit too early for me to pass [Music] judgment you all know what that means for you those that finish will receive their white kepi's from general dhari next monday [Music] it's the most important test in their four months of training the so-called white kippee march 50 kilometers in two days and with a 25 kilo pack it's no picnic so long as they finish the course these volunteers will become members of the legion first 25 kilometers stage will be extremely hard on their feet [Music] oh that hurts oh that really hurts yeah he's got a huge burst blister it's not easy to walk on okay no problem today i sleep tomorrow be okay is not the only one to suffer well i'm hurting badly we'll just carry on and take care of it tonight i suppose i'm not going to give up now we're halfway there there's nothing that works as well as some strong hot wine to keep the men going um after a month of hardships the instructors loosen up a little volunteer firewood as australian and leads the section in a tribal war dance that's a great atmosphere it's wonderful [Music] life no one here talks of their past and as far as the foreign legion is concerned these men were born the day they joined up at nightfall and everyone is under canvas rudin is settling into his tent nice small house a small house he has to share with his oppo bernie what are you going to dream of tonight food food and smoking is 29. roudine is just 18. he's almost like a younger brother but bernie knows little about him language remains a barrier what do i know about routine not much i know how he got here and that's about it sometimes he talks about his mother his sister his brothers and but how he's gonna send the money so that they can have a good education in school i always wanted to be a soldier ever since i was small army legion is good i want career here everybody up it's an early start well you know there's a song in the legion but it's not enough to have a drink to become a legionnaire you need to be the first you were the first to drink but uh you're not the first to be getting up this morning today it's back to barracks and at the end of the white kepi march same distance as yesterday but a little harder so tighten your asses and we'll make it back to base 25 kilometers to go the pace is quicker than the previous day the 25 kilo weight of the backpack seems to be getting heavier as each kilometer drags by [Music] after a six hour march they reach the base roudine is all smiles he knows he's won his wife kp he and his comrades are now legionnaires nah i'm not tired and indeed the day is far from over first they have to clean their weapons then they'll get a chance to rest when everything is spotless oh you might think so right we'll keep doing it until it's done properly even after a forced march when everyone's tired you need to keep going dig in just because you're tired doesn't mean you can give up no way finally the reward all tiredness is forgotten it's time to wear the dress uniform that's the best what does it mean to you what's the difference between the ordinary perfect for military ceremonies still missing a few decorations a few medals but give me two years and they'll all be up there okay d-day guys make yourselves [Music] presentable which has covered to serve with honor and loyalty [Music] jacqueline part of the passing out ceremony well [Music] his comrades are now legionnaires but there's still three months of training to undergo before being posted to their regiments the foreign legion welcomes its new members in time on a tradition with pudding and white wine since i left home it's been my dream now it's action i want to get into action 9000 kilometers away in french guyana an adventure park for the foreign legion just a short distance from the border with brazil this is the cefe the equatorial forest training center this is where legionnaires learn about jungle warfare these men are part of the 2nd battalion 3rd regiment of legion infantry they've been in guayana for a few weeks they'll stay for two years for the past week they've been undergoing jungle training to meet the tough standards they'll need to stick it out another week if they make it they'll earn the right to undergo missions in the selva the amazon rainforest there's nowhere to hide out here you can either take it or you can't and if you can't take it they'll know right away that's what's good about being here the ultimate aim is to create a cohesive unit these conditions will help achieve a well-disciplined integrated unit the men are aged between 20 and 37 officers ncos and legionnaires they have all volunteered to serve in guyana men like corporal kim who's from south korea and a six-year veteran what did you think it would be like here that's great perfect excellent good training i love it how can i think you're prepared to die for her lopez is an instructor a 47 year old spaniard he's a living legend in the legion see this is how you carry him lift him up like this okay see i can run i hold my rifle he served in the legion for 22 years eight of which indiana a record he's out to test the soldiers physical limits and to spot their psychological weak points yes i do sir come on everyone pile on top of him uh we want to develop a sense of injustice here to make him feel he's been unfairly treated it will make him more aggressive you won't understand that now just like that on reflex but afterwards he'll understand already physically in good shape when they get here so we focus on their psychological issues porter you're the casualty go think like a casualty and you'll die like a casualty your mission is to survive another day there are two types of animals the prey those that are constantly on the run and the predator those that constantly sometimes you know we might get carried away and that's why there's a doctor always around just to make sure all is well come on look aggressive give me the look okay get down okay i'm pretty sure i think here uh they'll be surprised by this they have no idea what's coming up they'll be anxious scared and uncertain basically they're clueless it's a good psychological test inside the hood the prisoner is corporal kim one of the toughest man in the platoon without making any noise the instructor places a dummy detonator between kim's legs what are you thinking about i'm just waiting to see what's happening uh maybe we've been taking prisoner i don't know yet well you haven't even flinched when there was that explosion weren't you surprised it's up to the monitor to tell us to move or not tomorrow [Music] that might really happen the ncos here they bust our balls but luckily for us you know one day we'll be glad they taught us all this [Music] the blaring music is to destabilize the soldiers it's a way of making it seem like a guerrilla camp everyone gets the treatment and the interrogation methods are far from gentle a piece of wood is forced between their fingers and snapped [Music] and certainly for them they don't know why this is happening it's to see how they react you're trained to be aggressive but paid to keep it in check if necessary very well you've got 10 seconds to get into the canoes the legionnaires will now face the rigors of survival in the jungle the instructors order them into canoes and to keep their heads down so they can't see where they are the exercise will last 72 hours without food and with just a minimal amount of equipment no hammocks no mosquito nets and clothes that are soaking wet in order to get some sleep and some protection from the rain insects and snakes the men are going to have to build shelters using whatever is to hand and for food they'll also need to make do with whatever they find in this case the edible part of a palm tree [Music] it's the second day without proper food corporal u has a temperature i think you might have to go back with the nco no no i want to stay either you see he doesn't want to appear weak yeah he wants to see it through to the end and i'm sure there are other men who are ill but won't say anything okay you so what's up we have a trainee here with a fever between 38 and 39 degrees i'm going to bring him in he'll need to go into hospital lopez is concerned that corporal you may have contracted malaria which can be fatal if not treated quickly have you already had malaria you want to go back to your comrades huh yes yes i want to go back it's not up to him anymore sending someone who's got a 39 degree fever out onto a survival course isn't a very good idea now you better stay here it's what the civilians would do the army would say differently but they're the ones who are calling the shots so stay put corporal you tested negative for malaria but the medics think he has dengue fever an equally dangerous viral infection also caused by mosquitoes he's to be transferred to kuru for treatment and [Music] [Applause] [Music] recovery oh nights are very long out here uh 12 hours in fact it's a chance to assess their mental condition they think about a lot of things out here uh being so far away from their homes at night legionnaires usually think of their childhood and growing up and they dream in their own languages [Laughter] do you still dream in your mother tongue even after 22 years in the legion sometimes but i've become institutionalized so [Laughter] meant to you see local so much it's it's a way of life it's 20 years that's a whole life [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] and what did the [Laughter] the legion wasn't better off with me and so that when i leave the legion won't be any worse off without me [Music] ten days into their jungle training and the third day without food the men are starting to weaken warrant officer lopez decides that now's the time to move camp all right gather up the equipment we're moving it was a move that wasn't on the program as soon as you can see all their smiles are vanished now they don't understand and this is not good news for legionnaire gamba from senegal the platoon has to reach the new encampment on a makeshift raft that they themselves built and gamba doesn't know how to swim you're gonna go in the water even if you don't know how to swim well if we have to we have to whether you can swim or not where you going stay back don't get in the way a one and a half hour long journey down the river lies ahead but on empty stomachs it's a major effort struggling in the water gamba is doing his best but is barely keeping afloat legionnaires have to know how to swim especially for duty in rainforests like guyana warrant officer lopez decides to test gamba one last time what happens if you can't make it he won't get his grade he'll be considered unfit for jungle warfare to get his promotion gamble will need to swim at least 50 meters which but by halfway across he's in serious trouble [Music] so what happened the current was too strong sir i didn't have the strength anymore you didn't have the strength anymore that's when your head takes over it's a matter of willpower i want it so i'll get it are you going to carry on anyway i will i'm going to finish this gambo will need to learn to swim and then take the training course a second time to succeed he'll need to undergo every step of the training all over again it's the fourth day without food and the last of the two week long course come on lift your [Music] to finish the instructor is organizing the carrying of a makeshift stretcher a two-hour march through dense jungle terrain where i don't know somewhere inside i suppose but they find it it's the adrenaline everyone's stronger than they think they are so difficult it's tough but it's a reminder that this is what you wanted to do the legion didn't call up and say hey we need you come on over you're the one that joined up for five years so you just shut your mouth and get on with it the second platoon has more or less finished its training but warrant officer lopez still has plans for legionnaire porter the young frenchman did you bring much porter my comrades deserve better than this you don't want my water well your comrades are going to suffer i want to make sure he's suitable nice well he's better his willpower is is good if uh even if his physically is still a little weak but i think he's determined and he'll force himself to go further than uh he thought he could in tough circumstances [Music] i know one or two that might drop out but this is the only way the training has to be hard very hard is never going to eat meat right and here we want hunters we train them to be predators to eat meat if you will but without hate a predator doesn't hate his prey it's all in your heads now since you've probably not got much left in your bodies okay don't ask just do it for two weeks the legionnaires of the second platoon have coped with all the challenges that have been thrown at them during the training course lieutenant agboton the platoon commander has come to know the men who'll be under his orders for the next two years corporal kim has finished in second place in the overall standings after the course and will undergo further training to become a jungle warfare instructor himself legionaire porter finally did get his grade and corporal patterson from england the six-year legion veteran achieved what he had come to guyana to find adventure and inner strength hey kabul the capital of afghanistan after more than two and a half decades of war an uneasy peace has finally been reached a multinational force the isaf the international security afghanistan force helps maintain law and order under nato command amongst them 500 soldiers from the french foreign legion their mission is 24 hours a day seven days a week if fighting breaks out they'll be in the front line the main threat is terrorism on this particular day isaf troops have come under fire while guarding the airport the second legion's infantry regiment deploys for a manhunt leading the hunt isaf apache helicopters who relay instructions and observations to the legionnaires on the ground stay in position will be guided by the apaches captain pelibuff is in command of the fourth company and orders his troops via radio lieutenant pascal is in charge of the second platoon your mission is to intercept suspect elements only fire in legitimate self-defense [Music] the chase takes the legionnaires to the village of tarakal two kilometers from the airport and a former taliban stronghold it's a maze of small streets and houses protected by high walls you see that little tower that's that's where he is i have to wait for an interpreter so i can liaise with the local police and go inside the compound afghan police enter the village and the legionnaires have to maintain their positions they are not allowed to use their weapons the isaf mission ground rules mean they can only provide backup to local authorities and only fire in [Music] self-defense [Music] everyone's now waiting for the chief of police and finally he shows up at night time the legionnaires can finally enter the house but cameras are not allowed inside the suspect has inevitably disappeared but in the courtyard a well has attracted captain pelibuff's attention how deep would you say that is 15 meters the captain is intrigued by the fact that well is dry in the middle of the rainy season interior well the suspect has vanished probably escape down the well which in turn leads to a series of underground passageways well now we've got to maintain our relationships with the local authorities but uh hopefully we'll be able to come back and check out all the underground galleries properly but for now i have to pull out well the mission yes it is a little ambiguous everyone's rushing about it in different directions okay the captain ends the conversation there he is duty bound to say no more and he never did get the opportunity to search the well properly base camp for the second regiment is at kabul airport where they serve a four-month tour of duty one more exile for these men who have already abandoned their homelands and families in captain pelebuff's unit most of the soldiers are from outside france corporal lesko 29 is from slovakia it's like being back in barracks here it's what we're used to we get on each other's nerves sometimes but we you know we drink together and then we fight together everything it's the same as in any family very good moments and every family has its head right a father figure and so do we see the sergeants order the corporals like me and the corporals order the privates that's the way it is one big happy family and in the fourth company's family the smallest has only nine months under his belt but he's quite a baby almost two meters tall he's from argentina and it was his taste for tattoos that made him want to join the foreign legion you see in my country this isn't allowed in the army that's why i'm here this whole torso has tattoos to enroll in the green berets fernandez has had to make a lot of sacrifices to join up well i had to sell everything my car computer just to buy the airplane ticket they think they're in that's it on duty in afghanistan the legionnaires rarely get the chance to put on their coveted white keppies but today is payday while on duty anywhere outside of france the legionnaires receive double pay the equivalent of about three thousand dollars a month this morning though they will be entitled to just 350 pocket money distributed by the captain himself [Music] the rituals are set in stone and the time on ritual is that the pay goes into the kipi it's quite an important ceremony really the senior officers deals with uh issuing the legionnaire with the pay that he's earned they are mixed up with all sorts of other nationalities so the ritual is a form of common language something they can all relate to like his fellow officers captain bella buff is a stickler for the traditions of the foreign legion wherever he is posted he takes within portraits of his commanding officers and of general holley the founding father of the legion spirit of the legionness pride in a job well done and completing it no matter what it's about the military virtues physical as well as moral courage respecting your superior officers and discipline and i admire the notion of respect of more senior ranks as it works both ways it's respect in the martial and viral sense whereby orders are followed without hesitation and all the way and where the senior officer without showing it respects his subordinates to the point where if he has to order them in the worst case

Channel: Best Documentary

Views: 3,889,215

Keywords: film, documentary, movie, foreign legion, army, soldiers, elite, france, djibouti, combat

Id: fwLP7XjALj8

Length: 71min 2sec (4262 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 22 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/Pippin1505]

There was a fun documentary on a FFL unit tasked with plotting the France / Brazil border in the middle of the amazon forest ( yes, France has land in South America). It had been 50 years since the last expedition to map that part of the world.

After a grueling two weeks treck, they found the last marker... and a bottle of vodka left as a gift by their comrades 50 years before

[u/Scuta44]

First time I ever saw Bear Grylls was the documentary he did, Escape to the Legion. Was pretty cool.

[u/TheBeeTells]

I really liked the first part of that and seeing all the foreigners mini interviewers while trying to pass all the tests and their reactions to completing grueling tasks like those nonchalant low fives exchanged after that six hour walk back to base.

[u/ElagabalusRex]

What's the closest thing other countries have to the FFL? The British Army takes in a small number of Gurkhas, which is hardly the same.

[u/[deleted]]

Man the FFL is crazy, think about the idea of being in the military and fighting the battles the country you serve wouldn't even send their own citizens to fight.

[u/Flyinglamabear]

I knew a guy from the legion. Really nice guy I hope he is doing good

[u/ImATreeNut]

I watched the whole thing. Pretty interesting stuff.

Some dude threw up a terminal lance hand sign at about 1hr7min into the vid.

[u/Pippin1505]

What’s interesting about the FFL is that it tracks the world situation. Every time a conflict in the world ends, some of its soldiers join the FFL. There was an inflow of White Russians after the Bolshevik revolution, republican Spaniards after the civil war, Serbs and Croats , Russians again after the fall of USSR, now it’s Irak, etc...

[u/deadkandy]

Why was the "Australian" teaching the men the Haka?