Quote:
Originally posted by Rudey
From what I understood, they didn't care who you were or what you had done and gave you a completely new identity. Supposedly if you ran away, let's say to your country of origin, they could also kill you as a deserter or something along those lines.
-Rudey
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Not entirely true... there are some crimes that the Legion won't overlook
But yes it has been historically used as a great way to gain a new identity and citizenship, if shall we say, your previous country/identity was getting a little too "hot".
Case in point would be the Foreign Legion after WWII.... there was a suprising number of new recruits from Germany with convient wounds or burns under their arm (were the SS tattooed it's troops with blood-type)... so interestingly enough up to 50% of the force was German WW2 veterans fighting in places like Algeria or French Indo-China (Vietnam).
That being said... I have to respect some of the things that they did in Rwanda...
Okay back to the thread topic...
Well the armouring issue is currently the media darling, like Dekeguy has said it's not the black & white issue the media makes it - we went through the same thing, media wise, up here just over a year and a half ago. Yes armour does raise the protection and survivability of the troops, but it isn't the "magic bullet" that solves the problem of IEDs... training and enviromental awareness is the primary way to protect yourself - the armour is a fall back.