Between Loyalty and Change
This text seemed controversial to me, so I read it carefully. But no, Antoine isn't settling scores or lamenting a golden age. With the experience of nearly forty years of service in the French Foreign Legion, he observes what is changing today, sometimes subtly, in customs, symbols, and points of reference.
His remarks may surprise or disturb. They are nonetheless sincere. They pose a simple yet essential question: how can we evolve without losing what constitutes the soul of an institution?
This text doesn't offer a ready-made answer. It invites reflection, and that is precisely why I felt it deserved to be read.
Finally, the text leaves me with a sense of generational loneliness. The loneliness of someone who honestly wonders if he has become an "old fogey" or if he is simply one of the last guardians of a certain coherence. This is a worried but honest account, written not to condemn the present, but to remind us that all modernization has a symbolic cost, and that this cost deserves to be faced head-on.
Louis Perez y Cid
His remarks may surprise or disturb. They are nonetheless sincere. They pose a simple yet essential question: how can we evolve without losing what constitutes the soul of an institution?
This text doesn't offer a ready-made answer. It invites reflection, and that is precisely why I felt it deserved to be read.
Finally, the text leaves me with a sense of generational loneliness. The loneliness of someone who honestly wonders if he has become an "old fogey" or if he is simply one of the last guardians of a certain coherence. This is a worried but honest account, written not to condemn the present, but to remind us that all modernization has a symbolic cost, and that this cost deserves to be faced head-on.
Louis Perez y Cid
Evolution, drift, or both?
Antoine Marquet (LCL. Te-er)
Perishable goods all have an expiration date. Like any animal, I too am perishable, and as this deadline approaches, without, fortunately, knowing the fateful date, I can feel myself becoming an old fogey, perhaps out of fashion. Perhaps wrongly, I am surprised—and sometimes worried—by the significant changes observed in the professional military world, and more specifically in the Foreign Legion, where I served for almost four decades. Each day seems to bring its share of new developments, some anecdotal, others more revealing.
Thus, I discover a troop of French infantry, not legionnaires, marching at a pace noticeably slower than the Legion's majestic, regulation cadence of 88 steps per minute. It's all well and good to serve as a model, but they shouldn't overdo it. This evolution raises questions: is it simply a contemporary adaptation or the gradual acquisition of a strong identity marker?
I also see ordinary legionnaires undergoing training, practicing the "Dust" tradition, then singing "Le Boudin" before the meal. The scene is undoubtedly intended to be convivial and unifying. Yet, in this same sequence, a corporal appears wearing epaulettes with red fringe, a green body, and gold trim—insignia previously reserved for non-commissioned officers, as well as corporals and corporals. Is this related to his pioneer status, judging by the badge on his right sleeve? The doubt remains.
In a similar vein, "Le Boudin" is covered in a rap style, reminiscent of Booba. Admittedly, a previous bandmaster had already experimented with the Legion's music. Should this be seen as a deliberate modernization of traditions or a dilution of their symbolic significance?
Recruitment itself seems to be moving away from certain historical foundations. Candidates are now required to present themselves with a "package" containing numerous items, along with identity documents, disregarding the principle of "declared identity" established by Marshal Soult, Louis-Philippe's Minister of War and founder of the French Foreign Legion. This principle, enshrined in Article 7 of the implementing decree of the law of March 9, 1831, and the royal ordinance of March 10, 1831, facilitated the integration of individuals without proper documentation.
The same recruitment agency also assures recruits that they can use their cell phones for a month after the start of training to contact their families; a real attempt at breaking with the past, one could do better. It also promises them a salary of around €2,000, including bonuses. But do these bonuses actually apply to all legionnaires, or only to a few specific profiles?
Another notable change: the authorization of tattoos, formerly strictly forbidden, is now being promoted as a recruitment tool, while paradoxically advising against displaying any Legion symbols before even being accepted. The green beret, meanwhile, is becoming almost symbolic. It is sometimes worn by reservists who have never served as active-duty soldiers, or even by at least one woman who belongs neither to the medical corps nor to a combat role, but is assigned to administrative tasks within the Legion. The green tie is gradually darkening, a consequence of its manufacture being outsourced to suppliers who seem to have no obligation to strictly adhere to the regulated colors. We are a far cry from the ties produced in the stocks of the old youth work camps.
Even more surprising, a prestigious infantry regiment of the general regiment has agreed to have one of its companies, temporarily detached to the Legion, or commanded under a green and red pennant, relegating its own pennant to the back of a drawer. (?) A retired corporal, flag bearer for the veterans' association, is also observed wearing the green vest without provoking the slightest objection. Former Legionnaires, in their association uniforms, also wear this green vest, which is reserved—as part of the active-duty uniform—for senior officers and non-commissioned officers. No longer belonging to the active army, why wear such a regulation item distinguishing the position of a former officer in a kind of symbolic "class struggle," intended to assert their status?
The way decorations are worn is also changing: formerly "tiled," they are now displayed along their entire length, covering a large portion of the left side of the jacket, with commemorative patches contributing to the overall impression, making them more reminiscent of a North Korean bulletproof vest than traditional military attire. Not everyone is like General Rollet.
Furthermore, a bugler corporal assigned to the Mutual Aid Center is posting videos in which he shares his feelings about the Legion, punctuating his remarks with an authoritative, Uncle Sam-style index finger. What he says isn't always without merit, but... come on! Elsewhere, a unit commander is soliciting sponsors for the construction of a gymnasium, raising questions about the role of the Engineering Corps.
All of these changes seem to be taking place within a permissive climate, likely designed to enhance the appeal of recruitment. But as distant horizons, warm sand, palm groves, and coconut plantations disappear from the legionnaires' imagination and daily lives, one question remains: is this a necessary evolution or a gradual drift?
And what of the mystery then?...
Perishable goods all have an expiration date. Like any animal, I too am perishable, and as this deadline approaches, without, fortunately, knowing the fateful date, I can feel myself becoming an old fogey, perhaps out of fashion. Perhaps wrongly, I am surprised—and sometimes worried—by the significant changes observed in the professional military world, and more specifically in the Foreign Legion, where I served for almost four decades. Each day seems to bring its share of new developments, some anecdotal, others more revealing.
Thus, I discover a troop of French infantry, not legionnaires, marching at a pace noticeably slower than the Legion's majestic, regulation cadence of 88 steps per minute. It's all well and good to serve as a model, but they shouldn't overdo it. This evolution raises questions: is it simply a contemporary adaptation or the gradual acquisition of a strong identity marker?
I also see ordinary legionnaires undergoing training, practicing the "Dust" tradition, then singing "Le Boudin" before the meal. The scene is undoubtedly intended to be convivial and unifying. Yet, in this same sequence, a corporal appears wearing epaulettes with red fringe, a green body, and gold trim—insignia previously reserved for non-commissioned officers, as well as corporals and corporals. Is this related to his pioneer status, judging by the badge on his right sleeve? The doubt remains.
In a similar vein, "Le Boudin" is covered in a rap style, reminiscent of Booba. Admittedly, a previous bandmaster had already experimented with the Legion's music. Should this be seen as a deliberate modernization of traditions or a dilution of their symbolic significance?
Recruitment itself seems to be moving away from certain historical foundations. Candidates are now required to present themselves with a "package" containing numerous items, along with identity documents, disregarding the principle of "declared identity" established by Marshal Soult, Louis-Philippe's Minister of War and founder of the French Foreign Legion. This principle, enshrined in Article 7 of the implementing decree of the law of March 9, 1831, and the royal ordinance of March 10, 1831, facilitated the integration of individuals without proper documentation.
The same recruitment agency also assures recruits that they can use their cell phones for a month after the start of training to contact their families; a real attempt at breaking with the past, one could do better. It also promises them a salary of around €2,000, including bonuses. But do these bonuses actually apply to all legionnaires, or only to a few specific profiles?
Another notable change: the authorization of tattoos, formerly strictly forbidden, is now being promoted as a recruitment tool, while paradoxically advising against displaying any Legion symbols before even being accepted. The green beret, meanwhile, is becoming almost symbolic. It is sometimes worn by reservists who have never served as active-duty soldiers, or even by at least one woman who belongs neither to the medical corps nor to a combat role, but is assigned to administrative tasks within the Legion. The green tie is gradually darkening, a consequence of its manufacture being outsourced to suppliers who seem to have no obligation to strictly adhere to the regulated colors. We are a far cry from the ties produced in the stocks of the old youth work camps.
Even more surprising, a prestigious infantry regiment of the general regiment has agreed to have one of its companies, temporarily detached to the Legion, or commanded under a green and red pennant, relegating its own pennant to the back of a drawer. (?) A retired corporal, flag bearer for the veterans' association, is also observed wearing the green vest without provoking the slightest objection. Former Legionnaires, in their association uniforms, also wear this green vest, which is reserved—as part of the active-duty uniform—for senior officers and non-commissioned officers. No longer belonging to the active army, why wear such a regulation item distinguishing the position of a former officer in a kind of symbolic "class struggle," intended to assert their status?
The way decorations are worn is also changing: formerly "tiled," they are now displayed along their entire length, covering a large portion of the left side of the jacket, with commemorative patches contributing to the overall impression, making them more reminiscent of a North Korean bulletproof vest than traditional military attire. Not everyone is like General Rollet.
Furthermore, a bugler corporal assigned to the Mutual Aid Center is posting videos in which he shares his feelings about the Legion, punctuating his remarks with an authoritative, Uncle Sam-style index finger. What he says isn't always without merit, but... come on! Elsewhere, a unit commander is soliciting sponsors for the construction of a gymnasium, raising questions about the role of the Engineering Corps.
All of these changes seem to be taking place within a permissive climate, likely designed to enhance the appeal of recruitment. But as distant horizons, warm sand, palm groves, and coconut plantations disappear from the legionnaires' imagination and daily lives, one question remains: is this a necessary evolution or a gradual drift?
And what of the mystery then?...
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