minos79 intro (moved from Mosh Pit)

[minos79]

Hi guys, new to this forum. I'm right there with you and the shoulda, coulda, wouldas. I have plenty of friends that were in various parts of the military and when I was younger I always thought it was better that I hadn't enlisted. Not for political reasons but my parents, especially my mother (as most mother's do) never outright said don't do it but it was never encouraged. Both my grandfathers served in WWII, both as infantry as well as a few uncles in Vietnam. Now I'm no slouch having had a successful amateur boxing and muay thai career when I was younger but that is no comparison to the character of a military man who has seen combat. The look on their faces, even in the senior citizens is a look you cannot get anywhere else. It is the intense look of someone who will do anything they need to get the job done. Now that I'm in my early thirties, I've begun to really rethink my life and I am seriously considering joining the French Foreign Legion. Please do not take this an offense to the U.S. military. That is not at all what I intend. I respect this country, it's core values and the men (and women) who protect it to the highest degree. My decision for the FFL is born in the fact that they don't care about their soldiers because they are foreigners. If a country sent their own citizens into hot spots, there would be a political uproar (Vietnam etc) however if the french lose a couple of foreigners nobody really cares. What appeals to the most is extreme amount of discipline required. They will take anyone from 17 to 40 (so I've heard though I'm sure they would make exceptions) as long as you pass their tests. Unique to the FFL is that you can't just enlist, you need to pass their tests. You need to prove yourself right off the bat. I don't want anything to be handed to me, I want to earn and earn it honestly. It's going to be rough, it's a 5 year enlistment, no way around that I can't live my life with regret about things I wish I had done. I commend you on your attempts to rid yourself of regrets as well. You're not alone.

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