Misfits and runaways join French Foreign Legion for Afghanistan tour

When Corporal James walked in on his fiancée sleeping with another man he threw him through a second-storey window and beat him with a wrench until the police arrived.

The former US Navy signalman was facing seven years in jail for what was — by his own account — a frenzied assault. But on March 9, 2007, just three days before he was to stand trial, James, 22, packed a change of clothes and some cigarettes into a small duffle bag, said goodbye to his mother, his stepfather and his sister, and flew to Paris to start a new life.

Today he is on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan — but this time it is with the French Foreign Legion. “The legion was a second chance, an opportunity to reinvent myself,” he said. “It was either here or prison.”

The legion, founded in 1831, is one of the only regiments in the world that almost anyone can join — no matter where they are from or what they have done. James is one of more than 700 legionnaires, an extraordinary blend of misfits, mercenaries, runaways and romantics, fighting the Taleban in the mountains east of Kabul. Among them are a handful of Britons, scores of Russians, and others from as far apart as Algeria and China.

“Nine out of ten guys here are looking for a second chance,” said James. “A big thing is guys from Eastern Europe and Russia. A lot of them are here for the money, the rest were in gangs, or in trouble with the police.” James is not his real name. The legion gave him a new identity when he signed on in Aubagne, in the South of France. French army rules prevent journalists publishing soldiers’ surnames — even when they are false.

“If you join under a false name you can’t have any contact with your family or your past life until you get your name back,” said Adjutant-Chef Craig, 43, the Scottish sergeant-major in charge of discipline at the legion’s Afghan headquarters in Surobi. Read more about the Legion HERE 

[RG] I can see why James joined the Legion and can understand why he reacted like he did, when I was a young soldier in West Germany me and my mate used to fantasise about joining after a few too many beers, but that's as far as it went, I'm sure James will get his French passport and live there when he leaves the ranks and hangs up his Kepi Blanc.