Aubagne, near Marseille, the recruitment center of the Foreign Legion. - Wake up! Rest. What is that? It's not an asylum for political refugees here! For those who want to join the Legion, this is where it all begins. But before wearing the white kepi, there are a few obstacles to overcome. Each year, of the 8,000 applicants from all over the world, Only 1000 of them are retained. First step, the recruiting office. - Do you want to join the Foreign Legion? - Yes! Do you have a passport? What's your nationality? - Ukraine! - You tell him to empty his pockets on the table and his bag too. The Legion is 130 nationalities, 7,600 soldiers, mostly from Eastern Europe and Europe. For many, it is the hope of another life. - Me, I come from the street. Honestly, jail, get out, jail, get out. There is no path. I'm here to have a small chance to get out of this. Maybe the Legion will give me my chance. Like this candidate, many of them want to start from scratch. The Foreign Legion can offer them a second chance. - My mother kicked me out because I wasn't doing anything. She was fed up! This recruiting office receives an average of fifteen candidates from all social and cultural backgrounds. - I am Turkish. - Why do you want to join the Foreign Legion? - To change your life Having a job, a future. - But as I grew up in France, I eat the bread of France. Turkey did not feed me, France yes. So I prefer to join the French army. One of the peculiarities of the Legion is change. Compulsory identity, even for the French. - You know that when you join the Foreign Legion, you will be hired under a declared identity. So here I am going to give you another name. The declared place of birth will be Ankara, the capital of Turkey. That's right? - Yes sir! - Your father's first name will change too. His name will be Abdel. Don't worry, afterwards you will have the right papers. To engage, the French must become foreigners. Besides, here, we don't say French, we say Gaulish. The Legion gives them a French-speaking nationality, Swiss, Belgian, Canadian or Monegasque. - And you will engage under a Canadian nationality. - It's not a problem for me as long as I return to the Legion. This morning, they are six candidates to join the circuit of the selection tests. It lasts ten days. Novikov, Ukrainian, 27 years old. Lindailson, Brazilian, 30 years old. Munteanu, Romanian, 26 years old. Roudin, a Kazakh, 18 years old. Zoubeir, Ivorian, Croatian, 27 years old and Berner, French turned Swiss, 29 years old. - Here already I will lay the foundation. It's not the underpants party, it's not summer camp. You are here from 2 to 10 days, locked up. No phone calls, no going out on the town. If there are people from the start who do not support this regime, at the end of my intervention, return home. It's not worth continuing. In the barracks, it is forbidden to wear civilian clothes. They are not yet soldiers, but already they receive a uniform. A tracksuit. - At the call of your name, listen to me carefully, you take your bag, all your things and put them there under the table. Whoever joins the Foreign Legion must make a clean sweep of the past. The time of training, the Legion confiscates everything, personal belongings, jewelry, cell phones. - The grip is firm. And this is only the beginning of the tests that will now follow. - Now, three selective tests and elimination from the start. I explain! Psychotechnical tests. Those who have a general level of oyster, you will not go further. The results of the psychotechnical tests, if you have less than ten, you leave in stride. - First test, ten minutes flat. - Test Cooper! You are asked for twelve minutes to run a minimum of 2700 meters. Those who are crossed with brakes and turtles, they will go home. For the less sporty, the sanction is immediate. - He won't last, he's going to stop! - Sometimes when we shout to put them in the mood, it wakes some of them up. They have really good results. It's good for them. - Medical test, that's the doctor who decides. If you are healthy and complete in limbs, normally you continue to commission. - With the test that awaits them, it will be necessary to be in good shape and above all do not hide antecedents because for some it is their only way out. So, if you will, it's a passport to Europe. It is an economic future. It is something very interesting. And so, as a result of that, they're trying to hide medical history. The group passed the first three tests. He won a session at the hairdresser. The legion style haircut is a step additional in the integration of the future white kepi. The regulatory two millimeters put everyone in the same mould. - Do you feel like becoming legionnaires? - Almost. Finally, there is still a feeling of unity since we are all in the same boat now. It is the group that is formed. There are those who have taken the first step and those who are excluded because they failed one of the first three tests. They are called repressed. Many of these men go back to square one with just a train ticket in your pocket. Their destination is often synonymous with an uncertain future. But for the groups that continue, victory is not yet at the end of the road. - Get dressed! There is no laundry on the floor. Line up! The holidays are over for good. Five years of serving with honor and fidelity. Serve for the green and red pennant of the foreign legion and for France. You are not here to use a system. - Now think carefully, I give you exactly three minutes. Think carefully! Three minutes to be really sure that your choice is well engraved in your brain. - Okay that's good! Rally out and action. - You are aggressive with them, you play your part? - Yes, that's my role. It's normal. I try to put some order sometimes because we are still in the army. In addition, to the Foreign Legion. You see that here, at the Legion, we train soldiers. These are not people who are going to distribute Red Cross parcels. They are soldiers who will protect France. So we have to be real soldiers trained the old way. The psychological pressure is permanent. Munteanu, Zoubeir, Lindailson, Roudin, Novikov and Berner are going to have to prove they belong in the Legion. The recruiting master corporal makes them wait half an hour without moving, facing the sun. - They wait and we observe if he is really motivated. Those who are not motivated stay two or three days. and go away. People who are really motivated, are well in their head. - I hope they are motivated like me when I arrived. I dreamed of wearing the white kepi. I think it's the same for them. Africa, the desert and all that. The life of a legionnaire. For me, someone who comes to the Legion is someone who seeks adventure, to be a man, to spend his life with the white kepi. We are only 7000 in the world. For a man, it's a real adventure. It is something sacred. The sacred has to be earned. In addition to the tests, each candidate undergoes several interviews. - In terms of security, we do not take blood crimes. We don't take perverts, we do not take people who have too heavy a past behind them. And so we are obliged, through a number of security interviews, to know a little about the background of these people. - Sit down! - Croatian nationality! You speak French? Where did you learn French? - I was born in French-speaking Africa, more precisely in Ivory Coast. And that's where I learned French. - OK. And why are you Croatian then? - From my mother who is of Croatian nationality. - Have you had any problems with the police or the justice system? - Never. - Do you use or have you ever used narcotics? - I have already consumed some, but a very, very long time ago. Marijuana, but a long, long time ago. - Do you have credit debts? - Not at all. - But what are you doing here then? You have no problem! Are you still in touch with your ex girlfriend? - Very good contacts. - Because it smells a bit like disappointment in love. You miss her? - Nope! - I ask him to be very precise because I felt in his motivation a sentimental disappointment and in most cases, when a candidate comes following a sentimental disappointment, it doesn't last very long. I'm still not sure if that's not his main motivation. All candidates undergo several interviews. They will have to answer the same questions each time. Their declarations are verified and cross-checked. Their past is carefully studied. If necessary, recruiting officers have the Interpol files at their disposal. Anyone wanted by the police can now be identified within hours. If the Legion refuses the criminals, it still gives a chance to delinquents. For them, it is the possibility of starting from scratch. And when a candidate is accepted, his secrets whatever they are, become inviolable. - We apply guard to you as I have shown you 25 million times. Raise your head! Be proud to be future legionnaires. For some, of course! Tighten your belt! So we said: honor code of the legionnaires, today, nickel chrome. Take black coffee, it gives the niaque! Several black coffees, no chocolate nor milk because afterwards you are lobotomized. - Is it difficult for them? - No, no, no, it's not difficult. That is a question of will. When you come to the Foreign Legion, you speak French here. To carry out orders, you have to understand French. The Legionnaire's Honor Code Comes From Here There are translations in all languages, so they know what to learn. Learning the honor code is mandatory. It is also the way to check the cohesion of the group. Berner, the French speaker, understood that he had to help Roudin, the Kazakh. After a week of trial and observation, what is at stake is obtaining the employment contract. - So we will start the commission. We now have 30 candidates. And we're going to have to take it on average... - Theoretically 17. Ok, let's start with the first one. Fool. - An open, communicative, educated candidate. Compelling motivation. - He's someone who already has a military background. He did six years in the regular. - For me, this is a favorable opinion. - The only downside in his file is a sentimental affair that lasted 2 to 3 years. I questioned him for a long time about this affair to find out if that's why he came to us. He told me it was over. He thought about his decision to come here. - We take it! - Novikov, Ukrainian. He is single, with no children. He will work hard for less than 200 euros per month. So in the end, he figured the Foreign Legion wouldn't be too bad for him. So he was trying to get a visa which he didn't get in the end. He simply obtained a visa for Poland, which made it necessary for him to be smuggled swimming across the German-Polish border in February. I think he is particularly motivated. Roudin, the Kazakh. Lindailson, the Brazilian, and Munteanu the Romanian also receive their first contract. They are no longer candidates but volunteers. A first step, the one that gives them the right to begin their education. They signed to serve five years with honor and fidelity, according to the motto of the Legion. But at the first false step, they will be ejected. They touch their first package, the full panoply of the fighter and also the famous white kepi legionnaires, for the time being in plastic. Their white kepi, they will style it for only a few minutes. - We haven't earned the right to wear it yet, it's just to try it. You are not yet legionnaires? - No, no, not yet. There is still a long way to go. In a month they will have the right to wear it, provided they pass their first phase of instruction. In the meantime, they have the green beret of the Legion that Zoubeir has a hard time styling. Tomorrow, they will leave for Castelnaudary, near Toulouse, for four months of instruction. - I hope, during the next four months, that you are going to put the turbo permanently and that I will see you in four months with a smile, ready to join your regiments. - Back, of course, with a white kepi on his head. On the eve of departure, there are those who are happy and those who doubt like Zoubeir. - I have some feelings of foreboding because it's a new beginning. It has nothing to do with Aubagne. - Are you happy to go to Castelnaudary? - Yes! - I realized my dream, that of being here. Narvik in 40, Bir-Hakeim in 42, Diên Biên Phu in 54, Kolwezi in 78. The feats of arms of the Foreign Legion have gone down in history. It is perhaps this prestige, but above all the adventure which still today attracts young people from all over the world. For the new generation, the Legion also represents safety employment, at least for five years. - I came here for discipline, friendship, and the money of course. But if you don't like army life, you won't last. Approaching Castelnaudary, the train passes in front of the Anjou district, the instruction and training regiment of the Foreign Legion. - You are not afraid? - Nope. If you're scared you can't do anything. Near the Castelnaudary barracks, in a farm cut off from the world, recruits spend their first months of instruction. - If you are not tired, we can redo the circuit twice. The effort and learning of military life constitute the first challenges of formation. On the program, sport, obstacle course with armaments, night walk. Recruits learn to exceed their limits. - I want to see how far I can go. - Is there an element of challenge in that? - Yes a competition, that, it is necessary. If you don't have a competitive spirit, you don't belong here. - Five minutes to wax your Rangers. At any time, instructors can send home those that wouldn't do. You have to hang on to hold on. - If we don't stress them a little bit, they will let themselves live, I would say. And for the military profession, it's not good. We can't afford to let them loose. At 10:20 p.m., everyone has finished their shower. Right after the shower, in bed! Even after a long and hard day, there is no question of breathing. Everything is timed. - We live at 100 km/h, non-stop. You have to hurry to eat, to wash, to dress. - Did you expect that or not? - I had no idea for a moment that the pace would be so high. But it seems that this is only the beginning. Final test before bedtime, room review. - Take your rest there! Listen to me carefully! Your towels, I don't want to see them like that anymore. Zoubeir, your towel, where is it? - It's the old towel! - I don't care, that wasn't the question. Answer my question! Why do you put your towels under there? Who told you to put them under there? - Corporal person! - That's dirty and that too. You wipe your whole body with it! Stand up, stand up! - We have small moments of revolt, a desire to revolt in any case. The future legionnaires have well deserved their night's sleep. Sleep under surveillance. - There, we no longer have the right to speak. I'm sorry, we're going to have to sleep. 10:30 p.m., lights out. At the beginning of the instruction, the hardest part, it's neither chores nor sport, it's an introduction to French. With most rookies, instructors start from scratch. - So the objective, we still remain simple, is that at the end of the instruction these people know 400 common vocabulary words. There, then, the ideal over four months, every month 100 words. - There, they systematically pair up. They are categorized from 0 to 5 at the French language level, five being everyday French, zero being nothing, but then nothing at all. I put a five with a zero. A four with a two is pretty much what I'm trying to do. Ok, finished for the room revisions. Direction the stadium, in the small field below. Like yesterday, French speakers have your pairs reviewed. Munteanu the Romanian is progressing quite quickly. - I learned French at school in Romania. For me, it's quite easy. - And what does the French flag represent for you? - That's why we are here, for the Legion and the Legion is French. We fight for France. We will protect the French flag in battle. A month later, on the combat track, the volunteers begin to look like legionnaires. - That's it, it goes faster like that. Attention! Head down! You need to know your actions. Go forward. - From here, enemy yellow. Itinerary by track, training in pairs. Parrot as we saw yesterday. A front, he calls his partner who passes in front. If you see an enemy you shoot. And immediately I bend down. Don't forget that you are two. You are a pair. Objective of the timed course, to test the cohesion of the pair in the effort. The important thing is not to arrive first, but to arrive together, let one protect the other together. Come on, pass in front of you, right here. By their orders and by their cries, the instructors. Increase the dose of stress to put the apprentices legionnaires in combat conditions. - Do you like it? - I love that. It's physical, it's technical. These are pretty basic things about reflexes. And these are things that we may have forgotten a little. Because of civilization, we are not used to watching, listening, reacting depending on the hazard. We are less seasoned, we will say. After 20 minutes at this rate, Zoubeir weakens. - From here, you can't see the enemy. There is a group 150 meters away. How much do you put the ball? - At 45 degrees. - What number? - On 7! - What are you observing there? - Their reaction in a state of fatigue. There, they are breathing very hard. They are very tired. And see their consistency at the end of the year. What do you see there? - It's hard! We collect! We have very few hours of sleep and we have to give the maximum. We try to take all the energy we have deep inside us. Release impulses. - Join your comrades. Well, they are two days away from the white kepi march, huh. So good state of fatigue to perform exercises. Extra fatigue during the white kepi march. And result at the end, the white kepi. Pride, that's it. After four weeks of training, it's time for the first assessments. For instructors, it is now easier to identify the personality of their pupils and to judge their ability to wear the white kepi. - Berner is special because well, he has a little military experience. So there he made a good impression. And then in addition, he helps his comrades. He shares his military knowledge with others. It's very very good. Zoubeir is more, as we say here, a left-wing intellectual. You can see that it's more a tea room and a carpet. He thinks a lot. But hey, for some time, he got into it too. Roudin is a fighter. Let's go. He needs to improve a bit physically. But hey, he already has his idea. Munteanu is more difficult to pin down anyway. He works well, he is determined, dynamic. But hey, regarding his future, I can't position myself yet. - Second section, at my command, rest! Today and tomorrow, march white kepi. Do you know what that means to you? Those who finish will receive Monday morning, in the presence of General Dary, their white kepi. The White Kepi march is the first test important part of the four months of training. 50 kilometers in two days. With 25 kilos on your back, it's not a formality. Provided they go to the end of the course, the volunteers will be received. In this first stage of 25 kilometers, it is the feet that are put to the test. - It hurts badly. - He has a big blister on his right big toe. She burst, it's not easy to walk. Roudin, the Kazakh is not the only one to suffer. - It hurts. I'm going to try to fix it all tonight! I won't let go now. To get back on your feet, only one therapy, mulled wine. After a month of effort, the instructors release the pressure a little. Faroud is Australian. He mimics the haka of New Zealand rugby players. - The atmosphere is great! Everyone sings in their language, the song of his country. And that is very pretty. - Romania, is it a bit lacking? - Yes, it's missing. But I go forward, always! If I think back, I think of all the problems. And that's not good for me. We're in the army, if we think back, it's not good for us. - Which problems? - Problems of life in general. Munteanu will not tell his story. Here, we are not talking about the past. Moreover, for the Legion, these men were born on the day of their engagement. Night falls on the bivouac. Rodin settles down in his tent. The house is small and in addition, he has to share it with his buddy Berner. - Roudin, what are you going to dream about tonight? - To smoke a cigarette. Berner is 29, Roudin is only 18. And with regard to the Kazakh, the French has a behavior of fraternal protection. But what does he know of Roudin? - What do you know of Roudin's life? - It took eight days to get here. He talks about his mother from time to time. He talks to me about his sister and that he wants to send money for his sister so she can go to school. That's what happens a lot with people from the East. The first salaries, they send them directly home so they can support their families. The next morning, 5:30 a.m. - There is a song that says to the Legion to make a real legionnaire, just having a drink is not enough. You also have to be the first everywhere. To have a drink, you were first, but not to get up in the morning. Today, back to the neighborhood. Second part of the march, white kepi. Same distance as yesterday. A little more difficult. Courage and there will be no problem, we will arrive at our destination. And here we go again for 25 kilometers. The pace is more sustained than the day before. The 25 kilos of the backpack are getting heavier as the kilometers traveled. After 6 hours of walking, it's the arrival in the district. Everyone, including Roudin, knows that they have won their Legionnaire's cap. - Tired? - Tired yes! - Zoubeir is also tired! - So tired! Weapons still need to be cleaned. The rest will be for later, when everything is clean. - You think you're done here Zoubeir? Looked! We've been on it for an hour and a half. An hour and a half. You told me three times that you were done. - When the work is not well done, we continue, even if we are tired, We make an effort. We draw from the reserve because it does not eat. Finally, the hour of the reward has come, fatigue is forgotten. You have to wear ceremonial attire. - It's the most beautiful outfit that one! - What does it represent? - It's the contrast between the work on the ground and the panache. My dream would be to get married and go to church in this outfit. That is the class! A ceremony with soldiers, all in parade dress, is classy. Well, it still lacks a bit of a medal, but it will come. In two years, it's decorated. - It's D-Day. You have to look good. - Volunteers, the time has come for you to renew the commitment that you took a few weeks ago. You will indeed now receive your white kepi. This kepi is the mark of an elite unit with a prestigious past which covered itself with glory in the service of France. Put on your white kepis! - Zoubeir, what nationality are you? - Croatian! - It went well? - Yes my captain! - Congratulations, welcome to the Legion! Zoubeir and his comrades are legionnaires, even if they still have three months of education before being assigned to operational regiments. The Legion welcomes these new white kepis around the traditional white wine pudding. - We're legionnaires now. - Are you proud? Yes, very proud! When I left my country to arrive here, I knew I could succeed but also fail. But I'm a legionnaire, it's my dream. At the same time, 9000 kilometers from Castelnaudary, French Guyana. For the Foreign Legion, one of the last lands of adventure. 80 kilometers from the Brazilian border, at CEFE, the training center in the equatorial forest, the ground where the Legion prepares its men for combat in the jungle. These legionnaires belong to the second section of the third foreign regiment. They arrived in Guyana a few weeks ago. They will stay there for two years. For seven days, they have been doing exercises in the jungle. To obtain their hardening certificate, they still have to hold out for a week. If they overcome this ordeal, they will have the right to carry out the missions in the selva, the Amazonian forest. - Here, you can't try to be someone you're not. - The final objective is above all to create even more cohesion, because it's in hardships like that, in efforts like that, that we manage to make a block. They are between 20 and 37 years old, officers, non-commissioned officers or legionnaires. They are all volunteers for Guyana, like Master Corporal Kim, a South Korean paratrooper in the Legion for six years. - Did you expect this when you came here? - It's perfect, impeccable. I like. - If you are not ready to suffer for France, how are you make me think you're ready to die? Chief Warrant Officer Lopez is an instructor. This 47-year-old Spaniard is a legend in white kepis. He has 22 years of legion, including eight spent in Guyana, a record. Its objective, to push the physical limits of the trainees, reveal their psychological weakness. - It sends back a feeling of injustice. Someone who feels injustice on him feels attacked. He becomes aggressive. It develops aggression. During the internship we do not understand. We only understand at the end. But when they arrive here, they are already physically prepared. So we mainly attack the psychological sides. -There are the victims, those who constantly search. The predator, the one who constantly hunts. So they have to have the minds of predators. - In position! Ok. Get down! They look left and right, they are not reassured. They are not ready for this. This is the psychological factor. Under the prisoner's hood, the Korean Kim, one of the most experienced in the section. Without making a sound, the instructor places the detonator of a practice grenade between his legs. - What is going on in your head there, at that moment? - We wait! - You didn't even move at the detonation, you expected? - It is my mind that guides me. - We learn things that can happen one day. Music is to destabilize, create the atmosphere of a South American guerrilla camp. Each in turn, the trainees undergo a tough interrogation. It starts with a broken piece of wood between the fingers. - It may shock because they don't know the motive. We do this to see the reaction of the legionnaires. Make them understand that they must always control, always dominate. What is the situation? Control your mind. You are trained to develop your agility. Trainees will now be put into survival condition in the jungle. The instructors make them embark in canoes, head down, so they can't spot their position along the river. The exercise lasts 72 hours, without food, with only a minimum of equipment. - There is everything in the forest to eat. Tonight they will sleep without a hammock, without a mosquito net, in clothes they haven't had time to dry. To protect against tropical showers, insects or snakes, they will build their own shelter with the means at hand. To eat, they will only have what they find in the forest. - We have no choice. Tonight, it's a few hearts of palms to share between the section. Ninth day of training. Second day without food. Corporal Yau, a Chinese, has a fever. - He does not want to pass for the one who is weakened. For him, you have to go all the way. And I think there are many others who are not well but who won't say anything because they see The end of the tunnel. And now is not the time to crack. - I have a headache. - Since when? - Since this morning. - Well, we have an intern who has a fever. Approximately between 38 and 39 degrees. I bring her back to put him under observation in the infirmary. Chief Warrant Officer Lopez's fear is that Ya has malaria, a deadly infection if not treated in time. - So you already had malaria? - Nope. You're going back with your comrades. - The course is not over yet. - It's no longer him who decides. - Putting someone on the field with a fever of 39 is not necessarily a good idea. - In my opinion you will stay here for now. The malaria test being negative, Yau was transferred the next day to Kourou for suspected dengue fever, a viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes. A disease that kills, but Yau could be cured. - The night is long. A lot goes on in the head of a legionnaire. His life is far away. At night he remembers his youth, his childhood. He dreams in his language. - Do you still dream in your language after 22 years of Legion? - Sometimes yes. - What did the Foreign Legion bring you? - A lot. - And what did she teach you? - A lot. A lot. But hey, I'm going from the principle. The day I leave the Legion will have lost nothing. Tenth day of training, third day without food, The trainees are starting to falter and it's time which Chief Warrant Officer Lopez chooses to shake them up even more. - You take all the equipment and we move. Moving house! A move which, of course, was not on the program. - The smiles are gone. The most worried this morning is the legionnaire Gamba, a Senegalese. The trainees will join their new camp aboard a makeshift raft they themselves made. However, Gamba does not know how to swim. - Are you going to go in the water, when you can't swim? - You have to go in the water whether I can swim or not. - Where are you going? Can't you see there's my vest? Stay behind! Legionnaires always have empty stomachs. However, they will go back down the river for almost an hour and a half. Gamba is in trouble but he hangs on and does what he can. A legionnaire must know how to swim, otherwise he puts his life in danger, especially in Guyana. Chief Warrant Officer Lopez tests Gamba one last time. - If he doesn't, what will happen to him? - He won't get the license. To have his certificate, Gamba must pass to swim 50 meters, exactly the width of the river. Gamba puts all his energy into it. And halfway through he is out of breath. - Gamba, what happened? - I got carried away by the current, my chief warrant officer, I had no more strength. - How come more strength? When we have no more strength, it is the head that commands. It is the mind. - Do you continue despite everything? - Yes, I continue. We have to go all the way. As long as he learns to swim. Gamba, the Senegalese will have the opportunity to retake the seasoning certificate. To obtain his diploma, he will have to pass all the tests of the internship again. Fourth day without eating. Fourteenth and last day of the course. Finally, the instructor prepared a stretcher session. Two hours of walking and obviously not by the easiest route. - Where do we find the resource in these cases? - Inside yourself. We are always stronger than we think. - It's difficult but we made the choice to come. The Legion didn't come looking for us. He who came to the legion to enlist for five years, he goes all the way. The Legionnaires of the Third Stranger are coming to the end of their internship. Chief Warrant Officer Lopez tests one last time the Legionnaire Porter by a young Frenchman, a Gaul. - Another test? - We test him to see if he's fit. He got better. He has a mind of steel. If the training is not hard, we do not know his reaction in difficult situations. I know my reaction. We must continue with this training system. Otherwise it doesn't work, it doesn't work. - Hey guys, last physical test. OK! There are not many more in the physical, but everything is in the moral. We don't ask questions and it's ok. During the fifteen days of the hardening course, the legionnaires faced together the various challenges they faced. Lieutenant Agbautan, the platoon leader, got to know the men he will command for the next two years. Master Corporal Kim, the Korean, finished second overall. He will follow the course of forest specialists. Much harder, much longer. Legionnaire Porter, the young Frenchman also obtained his certificate. And as often, the British, Corporal Paterson, the Englishman in the Foreign Legion for six years, found what he had come to look for in Guyana. Adventure and self-transcendence. Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. After 23 years of war, the still precarious peace maintained by the soldiers from ISAF, the international security force under NATO command. Among them, 500 men from the Foreign Legion on 24/7 alert. If fighting breaks out, they will be on the front line. They know it, it's their lot. Their area of action, the north of the city and the airport. The main threat? Terrorism. That day, shots had just been fired in the direction from the airport, targeting Belgian ISAF sentries. The Second Stranger's Legionnaires deploy for a manhunt. The hunt is guided by the helicopters of the Dutch army who inform them on the ground. - No, you maintain the loop, it's just the vehicle that moves so that one can be guided by the Apaches. The captain commands the fourth infantry company by radio. It is he who positions the combat groups. Among them, the men of the second section, that of Lieutenant Pascal. The chase takes them to the old stronghold Taliban located less than two kilometers from the airport. A labyrinth where all the dwellings are protected by high walls. - You see the little tower? It's here. He crawled earlier. He looked over and over discreetly. And there, since then, we no longer see him. If he opens fire, you retaliate immediately. - I am now waiting for an interpreter to establish the link with the police authorities before entering the compound. Afghan police enter the village, but the legionnaires must still wait. In fact, they have no right to open fire. In Kabul, the ISAF mission does not authorize them to intervene only in support of local authorities or in self-defence. To intervene, only the Afghan police chief is missing. Night has fallen when finally the chief of police arrives. After waiting so long, the legionnaires enter the house. But the Afghan police won't allow us to follow them. Inside, the man on the roof has vanished. At old age. But in the courtyard, a well attracts the attention of the French officer. How deep is it? Fifteen meters. What surprises the officer is that the well is dry. Impossible in the middle of the rainy season. - Where are you with the search? - Interior excavation completed. We look around the house one last time. The legionnaires leave the place with regret and empty-handed. - The person has disappeared. She fled through a well which is about fifteen meters deep and which probably opens onto an underground gallery. Well, I don't know any more, except that now, this is the part of relations with the Afghan authorities. I had the majority of my elements folded and we will go much further, I hope, to explore this network. This will be the whole difficulty. - For the moment, are there certain constraints? - Above all, things are very ambiguous with them since everyone is a bit on all sides at the same time. The Legion officer will say no more and the days that followed did not allow exploration of the well either. Return to the Second Foreigner Legionnaires Camp at Kabul Airport. Far from their regiment stationed in Nîmes, the legionnaires spend four months in Afghanistan. One more exile for these men who have already left everything, their country and their family. In Captain Pélabuf's company, eight men out of ten are foreigners. Corporal Lescot is 29 years old, he is Slovak. - We live together. It's like in the barracks. Matter of habit. Sometimes we get bored. Sometimes we understand each other. We drink together, we fight together. It's like in all families, there are good times and bad times. In families, there is always an authority, a dad. - Corporal. It's the authority here. Over here is the authority sergeant. In the family of the fourth company, the youngest has nine months of service. It is a beautiful baby of 1m95. He comes from Argentina. What brought him to the Foreign Legion are aesthetic reasons. - In my country, the army is forbidden. That's why I'm here. – He has almost his entire torso tattooed. To join the ranks of the green berets, Legionnaire Fernandes had to make some sacrifices. - What did I do to come here? I fought. - You gave it all up? In Afghanistan, legionnaires rarely have the opportunity to put on their white kepi. And if they wear it today, and if they have the smile is that it's payday. When on mission, legionnaires receive twice their pay, i.e. about 2500 euros per month. This morning, they only receive an advance of 300 euros, pocket money. - It's a ritual that has its importance where it is actually the chef who puts the balance that the player has earned by his work. Everything is ritualized and each gesture has its meaning. - The legionnaire comes from all over the world. He finds himself with people from elsewhere. They must be amalgamated and for there to be something in common, you have to give them a form that makes sense. Like all Legion officers, Captain Pélabuf is committed to respecting traditions. In his luggage, he brought back from France the portraits of its leaders and that of General Rollet, the founder of the Legion spirit. - The spirit of the Legion is love job well done and mission accomplished to the end. It is the cult of military virtues namely physical courage and moral courage. It's the chef's love and discipline. I really like this expression of the chef's love because it goes both ways. It is the love that generations of leaders carry, in the virile and martial sense of the term, in the sense that he obeys her to the end. And it is the chef who, without showing it, loves his subordinates, since he can go so far as to give an order that will go so far as to cause them to lose their lives in the worst case scenario. But he himself being in the first place among them. In the Legion are found men belonging to all the nationalities of the globe. These foreigners, with whom the French mingle, have formed a homogeneous body for 170 years which recognizes itself in its motto Legio Patria Nostra.
