"Man deserts US army for the French Foreign Legion" Topic

He said he needed the hardships of Legionnaire life to stave off suicidal tendencies, because life in the US Army is too soft. Now he'll serve a different type of hard time:

link

Does he look like a criminal to you? Not to me,he looks like a Legonaire to me.

^^^ Good one!

He must not have had his commission for long if he deserted as a 2lt.

So the soldier who deserted his post in Afghanistan and walked over to the enemy gets no punishment, but this guy gets four years jail time, at least he was fighting the jihadis while he was with the French.

Still a er.

My two shillings worth.

Eric

Lean on the French.

Makes perfect sense to me, in this upside down world, USAFpilot.

[heavy sarcasm intended]

More proof we are living in the "Alice in Wonderland" era.

"So the soldier who deserted his post in Afghanistan and walked over to the enemy gets no punishment"

It's still not clear exactly what that guy did. Interestingly enough, the investigation is allegedly completed, but the Army is sitting on the results.

Maybe this 2LT at Fort Drum should have really considered what he wanted to do with his life before he got all this expensive West Point training. And it seems a little weird to me that his mental health issues sort of cleared themselves up, which I am a bit skeptical about. Supposedly the Legion doesn't teach new recruits French anymore; you have to have some basic ability in French, so I wonder if the 2LT had some school French language, or what?

Sometimes, in quiet moments, I think back about what might have been if 17 yr old me had taken a plane to France to join the Legion, instead of my various other career choices in life….

And incidentally, voluntarily serving in a foreign military is one of the few actions a U.S. citizen can take that can lead to loss of citizenship, so the Army could really slam him above and beyond four years prison if they wanted.

Only if he had another citizenship. Under international law you aren't allowed to make someone stateless.

French language capability is NOT a deterrent from joining. They will still teach you French as part of your training. After-all, you become a French citizen after your service.

You only need to meet the age requirements, pass the physical, and not be wanted for any major crimes (murder, drug smuggling).

US citizens can serve in foreign militaries without loss of citizenship. Americans serve/have served in the FFL, the IDF, etc. Hell, the Australian Defense Force is actively recruiting US military personnel with key skills who are separating from the USN, USAF, and USA. Foreign nationals can also serve in the US military.

Whoa, so let me understand this. France paid him to learn French! So now he's bilingual! What a deal.

Free lessons? Sign me up!

Wait. I've seen Beau Geste.

On second thought, I'm good.

I hope to heck he doesn't start feeling that military prison is too soft for him.

I wonder if we should pity the military prison service?

I think the issue here is "abandoned his unit". What he should have done is resign from the army first, then there would have been no issue.

"…it seems a little weird to me that his mental health issues sort of cleared themselves up…"

> …he had been struggling with suicidal urges
> …only way to escape his crippling depression
> …he had bouts of depression that grew worse after graduated from the academy

Not sure you really want to rely on someone with suicidal tendencies in a combat situation (?) Shouldn't the US Army psychologists have spotted this and taken him off active duty anyway?

According to the story, he voluntarily turned himself in to the US Army after he finished his hitch in the Legion. It sounds as if he could have either continued serving in the Legion or lived as a civilian in France under his assumed name, no questions asked.

Maybe he really wants to meet Chelsea Manning.

The brother of a friend of mine did the same thing – went AWOL for the Paras to join the FFL.

Given he took a bullet in the knee in Chad, I think the MOD let him off.

Wine with meals and no crp about being the 'good guys' then I spose he was missing basic Mac and Coke so came back finally a book to write and a movie deal. And what's a little jail time in a country that can incarcerate you for looking wrong. Sounds all good to me.

Read about it on Yahoo!

You can serve in a foreign military without loss of citizenship so long as that country is not at war with the US.

You can be asked if you are relinquishing your citizenship if you are commissioned as an officer or reach the rank of Sergeant as an NCO.

In a similar rational if you serve as an elected official or as an Ambassador or in certain roles in a foreign embassy you may also be challenged if you are relinquishing your US citizenship.

David

The FFL are some pretty tough Hombres …

"US citizens can serve in foreign militaries without loss of citizenship."

Parse exactly what I said: "voluntarily serving in a foreign military is one of the few actions a U.S. citizen can take that can lead to loss of citizenship"

kiltboy noted a number of conditions, which are correct:

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Well if he stayed in the Legion this would not have happen.

Plus he turned himself in.

While the four years may be a bit harsh, as a former enlisted infantryman who then went on to be an officer, I find large holes in this story.
1. It does not seem that he was an infantry officer; why did he not go 11A? Did he attempt Ranger school? Don't tell me he could not find that challenge in the US Army. Any light or airborne battalion would have given him plenty of opportunity to forget his demons; he definitely would have seen some serious combat time as well in the Stan or Iraq. Even in peacetime I spent two out of every four weeks in the field, with the third getting ready to go to the field.
2. The article implies that he was top of his USMA class and I was in the top ten percent of my ROTC class. Both of us were eligible to pick our chosen branch as the top ten % almost always gets their first pick; again, the article implies he was not combat arms. I have zero doubt that if he chose infantry he would have got it.
3. In the LE it does not sound like he saw much real combat time compared to what he definitly would have seen with a U.S. LI BN. Kinda defeated the purpose of his goal, don't you think?

I think what likely happened is this guy:
1. Was not as high a graduate as the article stated, and/or
2. Failed infantry OBC or Ranger school and then got a less than desirable posting ( in his mind) as a med platoon leader ( which is usually a spot held by med branch officers or PAs).
3. Then decided that he was going to get no where (or not do the things he wanted) as an officer and went AWOL.

Bottom line: if this guy wanted combat time and the misery of constant field time, the Army would have easily accommodated him-hell he could have resigned and finished his obligation as an 11B.

Go points Maggot, from you, some one who would know … As a former Infantry officer, '79-'90, I agree. Especially now, if you wanted to be a "down and dirty" Infantry Ldr. I served in 4 Inf Bns worldwide, and we had no shortage of field time, deployments, etc. …

Oops ! I meant Good Points !