The French Foreign Legion (French Foreign Legion) is a regiment of infantry, cavalry, sappers and airborne troops of the French Army, founded in 1831. The French Foreign Legion was established to allow foreign citizens to join the French Army, and until the end of the Algerian War in 1962, the French Foreign Legion was part of the Armée d'Afrique (Afrique in the French colony).
The French Foreign Legion recruits volunteers from all over the world. The Legion appeared at the forefront of the French Army's operations. French nationality can be obtained as long as you have served in the French Foreign Legion for 3 years or have been wounded in combat.
Brigadier General (Général de Brigade).
Brigadier General currently holds the rank of Commander of the French Foreign Legion and is responsible for commanding the entire Foreign Legion. A general who serves as a commander needs to have served in the Foreign Legion for a career.
The Commander of the Foreign Legion is the technical adviser to the Chief of Staff of the French Army and is responsible for all the specifics of the Foreign Legion and the soldiers. The Commander has the authority to issue orders to all Foreign Legion units, and to report to him on matters relating to the organization, disposition, and equipment of the Foreign Legion.
In order to perform the duties of commander, he also has a general staff under him in charge of specific affairs. There are six divisions under the General Staff, which are Integrated Management and Research, Human Resources, Security and Protection, Impact and Heritage, Mutual Aid and Solidarity.
The current commander of the French Foreign Legion is Cyril Youchtchenko
Yuchichenko was born in 1967 and entered the St. Cyr Military Academy in 1989. He graduated in 1992 with the rank of second lieutenant and served as a platoon commander in the 92nd Infantry Regiment. During the Yugoslav War, he was sent to Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1995, Lieutenant Yuchichenko joined the French Foreign Legion and went to the 13th Half Brigade of the Foreign Legion in Djibouti as a platoon commander. In 1997 he was promoted to captain and entered the 4th Foreign Regiment of Castelnodari. In 2001, Captain Yuchchenko was sent to the French General Staff to train sergeants. He was promoted to Major in 2002. From 2004 to 2005, he studied at the Military Academy.
From 2005 to 2007, Yuchchenko was responsible for training infantry platoon commanders at the Military Academy in Montpellier, and in 2006 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 2007, he returned to the French Foreign Legion to lead the Operations and Instruction Department of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment, and participated in military operations in the Central African Republic from 2007 to 2008 and Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010.
Yuchichenko, who was promoted to colonel in July 2010, commanded the 13th Semi-Mixed Brigade. The 13th Semi-Mixed Brigade was then transferred to the UAE, and in July 2011 Yuchichenko left his command post to work at the Center for Military Doctrine and Force Use (CFF) at the Military Academy in Paris.
From 2012 to 2014 Yuchichenko returned to the French Foreign Legion as Chief of Staff of the Foreign Legion Command. From 2014 to 2017, Yuchichenko assisted the Army Inspectorate. From 2017 to 2019, he worked in the Army Human Resources Agency.
In 2019, Yuchichenko was sent to the southern defense area of Marseille and was responsible for the headquarters of the defense area. In 2021, he was promoted to brigadier general and served as the deputy chief of the general staff of the defense district.
In July 2023, Yuchichenko succeeded Alain Laday as the new commander of the French Foreign Legion.
Note: In the rank insignia of the French Foreign Legion, the infantry is gold, and the cavalry is silver.
Colonel
The colonel commanded the regimental and semi-brigade (demi-brigade) units of the Foreign Legion.
The Foreign Legion currently consists of 1 headquarters, 8 regimental units, 1 regimental semi-brigade unit, 1 battalion-level overseas detachment, and 1 battalion-level recruitment unit.
The 8 regimental units are: the 1st Foreign Regiment, the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment, the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment, the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment, the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment, the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment, and the 4th Foreign Regiment.
Among them, the non-combat units without the prefix of the arms are non-combat units, and the 1st Foreign Regiment is an administrative unit, with about 500 people in 3 companies, responsible for administrative management, selection and veterans' affairs; The 4th Foreign Group is a training unit, with about 1,200 people in 7 companies.
2 infantry regiments: the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment, 7 companies (including 4 combat companies) of about 1,300 men; The 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment is a reserve unit with about 500 men in four companies, of which 160 are rotated (provided by the Foreign Legion or the regular French forces), usually every four months.
1 Cavalry Regiment: The 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment, 6 squadrons (companies) of about 900 people, is the only unit that uses heavy armored fighting vehicles.
2 engineering regiments: the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment, 6 companies with about 900 people; The 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment, 7 companies of about 1,000 people.
1 paratrooper regiment: the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment, 9 companies with about 1,300 people.
Regimental and semi-brigade units: 13th semi-brigade, 8 companies with about 1,800 people. This unit is the only semi-brigade unit in the French ** team. The Half Brigade was a military formation that appeared during the French Revolution, and in order to avoid the use of the old feudal system of military formations, the Half Brigade was used instead of the regiment during the Revolution. In 1803 Napoleon ordered the abolition of the Semi-Brigades and the renaming of all of them as regiments. After that, there were still some units of the French ** team that still used half brigades.
Lieutenant-colonel: The picture below shows the rank of cavalry, if it is infantry, the stripe color is reversed, gold, silver, gold, silver, gold, gold
The lieutenant colonel commanded the regimental and semi-brigade (demi-brigade) units of the Foreign Legion.
Major (commandant).
The major's is also known as Chef de Bataillon (Battalion Commander) or Chef D'Escadrons (Cavalry Brigade Captains). A major commands a battalion or cavalry squadron and can also serve as a deputy to the regimental commander (colonel or lieutenant colonel).
Captain (Capitaine).:Cavalry.
The captain is responsible for commanding a company or cavalry squadron. If there is a shortage of officers, then the captain can also command a battalion or cavalry brigade.
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is responsible for commanding a platoon or cavalry squad. If there is a lack of officers, then the captain can also command a company or cavalry squadron.
Second Lieutenant (Sous-Lieutenant).
A second lieutenant is a junior officer rank that commands a platoon or cavalry squad.
Aspirant
The cadet is not an official military rank, but a symbol worn by the officer in waiting during training. At the end of the training, cadets can officially receive the rank of second lieutenant.
Warrant Officer (major).
If a sergeant major has served for more than 25 years and refuses to be promoted to officer, he can be promoted to the rank of warrant officer.
Promotion to warrant officer requires passing an exam and an interview, and you can also apply for a promotion if you have reached the minimum number of years of service (14 years). A regiment usually has one warrant officer.
Warrant Officer was established in 1978 as an independent rank between officers and non-commissioned officers, and on January 1, 2009, Warrant Officer officially became the highest rank of non-commissioned officers.
Sergeant Major (Adjudant-Chef).: The picture below shows the infantry ranks, and the cavalry ranks have silver stripes.
Sergeants can be promoted to the rank of Sergeant Major after 4 years of service, and Sergeant Major is responsible for commanding a platoon or cavalry squad. The French ** team first established the rank of sergeant major in 1912.
Sergeant (adjudant):The picture below shows the infantry ranks, and the cavalry ranks are striped in gold.
Sergeants are promoted to the rank of sergeant after 3 years of service, and the sergeant is responsible for commanding a platoon or cavalry squad.
Sergeant (Sergent-Chef).
Sergeants are promoted to the rank of sergeant after 3 years of service, and the sergeant is responsible for commanding a platoon or cavalry squad. The rank of sergeant was established in the late 1920s.
The sergeant mainly served as a deputy platoon commander.
Sergeant (Sergent).:Cavalry.
After 3 years of service, a corporal can be promoted to the rank of sergeant after passing an 8-month sergeant training course.
The sergeant mainly commands a squad.
Corporal Chief (Caporal-Chef).
If you don't want to be promoted to a non-commissioned officer, then a corporal who has served for 6 years can be promoted to corporal major. In the cavalry regiment, the corporal chief was called Brigadier-Chef.
The corporal chief mainly commanded a squad.
Corporal (caporal).
After completing 1 year of service and completing 1 to 2 months of corporal training courses, a private of the first class can be promoted to the rank of corporal. In the cavalry regiment, the corporal was called a brigadier.
The corporal mainly commanded a fire group (équipe).
Legionnaire de 1re classe
Private can be promoted to Private First Class after 10 months of service.
Private (legionnaire de 2e classe).:Cavalry.
Recruits were initially called engagé volontaire and wore green berets. After completing the 4-week basic training, you can get a white flat hat and receive the rank of private, which you can call yourself a soldier (legionnaire).
The French Foreign Legion recruits recruits from all over the world every day throughout the year, and they sign a five-year service contract after enlistment.
The recruitment and selection process takes three weeks, and the recruits bring their documents to the recruitment center to start the recruitment process, and the whole process is provided with free clothing, food and accommodation.
There are no requirements for nationality, language (not French), education and military background, but not wanted by Interpol. Then pass the exam and medical examination to formally enlist in the army.
As of 2023, the minimum salary of the French Foreign Legion is 1,472 euros per month, plus various allowances. Salary depends on rank, seniority, length of service, and location. Soldier ranks receive free accommodation, clothing, and medical care.
After 17 years and 6 months of service, you can receive a pension.
End of full text.