GIGN

[noak]

Hey this is may be an odd and dumb question, but I know if someone joins the Foreign legion they get there French citizenship, If someone joined them and got out can they then go for the French Army and tryout for the GIGN? Just got bored and thought that question up

[Mike]

to noah, no.
You have to be a member of the Gendemerie Nationale, sort of like military police and civilian police combined. After 2-3 years of traffic duty or boring duty, you can try out for GIGN. Their recruitment techniques are brutal from bixing matches to swimming under a boat on the Seine River tp retrieve very heavy stuff.

[Marauder]

Any truth to the rumour I heard that GIGN initiates have to put on body armour and be shot with a .357 Magnum as part of their training? The rational given was that it is supposed to give them the idea of what it would feel like in a real world situation.

[Slug]

Actually, once you get your French Nationality, you CAN apply for any of Frances national units, and the Gendarmes do more than just traffic duty! Once you put in your time with the regular Gendarmes you could try out for GIGN. They will prefer that you were at least a sergeant in the Legion, which is not that hard to do during your first 5 year Legion contract these days. The initial physical selection, though more difficult than the most other units, is not too extreme. This is from a few years ago, but I remember a couple of the requirements being, 100 push-ups, 25 pull-ups on a platform not a bar, a 5 mile 25 pound pack run in under 40 minutes. There was also platform pull-ups with the pack as well but as far as I remember thats what the regulars do to start off their work day. The bullet proof vest thing, who knows...it wouldn't surprise me that much.

[This message has been edited by Slug (edited 02-26-2001).]

[patrick]

The thing with the bullet proof vest is true. Actually, what happens is that you wear a full body armour and you hold a piece of concrete the size of a big hamburger (no other way to describe it) in front of your stomach. Then another GIGN guy bursts into the room and fires into the "hamburger" from about 15 feet away. This exercise is only done by GIGN people who are expert marksmen, so you don't really risk to get hurt (except if your finger isblown away, but that has never happened). The reason for the exercise is twofold: 1. you learn you entrust someone else with your life and 2. you learn to use your weapon under stress.

[patrick]

And I forgot to mention the SAS used to do the same in a much more extreme way