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A US Army Deserter Is Getting Four Years In Jail After Joining the French Foreign Legion

Former US lieutenant joined the fabled unit to experience “grueling” Legion life and keep suicide at bay.
image via Jean-Louis Zimmermann/Flickr

A young US officer and graduate of the prestigious US Military Academy at West Point who vanished five years ago and enlisted in the French Foreign Legion was sentenced Monday to four years in prison on charges of desertion.

Lawrence J. Franks Jr., 28, disappeared from the Fort Drum military reservation in 2009 and enlisted in the French Foreign Legion under the assumed name "Christopher Flaherty." According to a New York Times profile of Franks, the lieutenant told the court he had been struggling with suicidal urges at the time of his flight, and that he felt his only choice was to start over.

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"I needed to be wet and cold and hungry," he told the Times. "I needed the grueling life I could only find in a place like the Legion."

The Legion, a legendary elite unit within the French army, has a reputation for attracting criminals on the run and idealistic youth. It is unique in that it is made up mostly of non-French nationals, and because it guarantees recruits' anonymity.

Lieutenant Franks graduated from West Point in 2008, near the top of his class. He went missing in 2009 after he was put in charge of a medical platoon in Fort Drum. According to the Times, Franks disappeared suddenly one day and fled to Paris where he enlisted in the Foreign Legion. He deployed a number of times over the next five years, serving in peacekeeping missions in the Central African Republic and in Mali.

This year, after completing his five-year contract with the Legion, 28-year-old Franks came home and turned himself in to US officials.

The Legend of the Legion
Speaking to VICE News, Major General Jean-Claude Allard, a research director at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations (IRIS), explained that for many years, the Foreign Legion was considered the hardcore of the French army.

According to Allard, the concept of a domestic army staffed by foreigners can be traced back to the Ancien Régime— the era preceding the 1789 French Revolution. Back then, French kings employed Swiss Guards, a unit of Swiss mercenaries renown for their combat skills, who are still used to this day by the Vatican.

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The French Foreign Legion was created by French King Louis Philippe in 1831 to supply reinforcements to the French army, one year after the French conquered Algeria. Because of its rigorous training, says Allard, the elite unit was "mobilized in all operations that required speed and efficiency."

Allard said that legionnaires — nicknamed "white kepis" after their emblematic white cap — form a unique and very tight-knit community.

"The Legion's motto is Legio Patria Nostra ('the Legion is our fatherland'). Christmas is just round the corner, and let me tell you, Christmas is a huge tradition for them," he explained. "They celebrate it with their commanders, like a family."

"The Legion," says Allard, "is a life in and of itself."

A recruitment officer who wished to remain anonymous told VICE News that enrollment in the Legion is highly competitive.

After undergoing grueling physical testing — including running, rope climbing, and pull-ups — candidates are given a psychological test. The 8 percent of candidates who pass the tests are invited to join the unit under an assumed identity, which many see as the chance for a fresh start.

Over 50 nationalities are represented within the Legion. Once enrolled, aspiring legionnaires undergo four and half months of mental and physical coaching, including weapons training, before completing a six-month trial. They must then submit to "commando training," which can last up to several weeks, during which they are "pushed almost over the edge," according to the anonymous source. Legionnaires learn survival skills and become adaptable to all environments — from the Guyanese forest to the Arabian desert.

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According to Colonel Jacques Bessy, president of a French organization for the defense of the rights of servicemen (ADEFDROMIL), the intensity of the training sometimes leads to abuses.

"The problem is that there is the regulated training, and then there is the unregulated training," says Bessy. "It's not so much the strenuousness of the training, which is unique to the Legion, but rather the unplanned exercises. For example, being woken up in the middle of night to throw yourself down into the mud, or engaging in high-risk training."

Bessy told of an instance of the near-death of a legionnaire during a mountain hike that went ahead despite severe avalanche warnings, and the 2008 death of a Slovakian legionnaire in Djibouti, from heatstroke. Rules regulating army training are ignored, says Bessy, because legionnaires tend to think of themselves as "superhuman."

In 2009, ADEFDROMIL released a report on the infringements of the human rights of French troops. Speaking to French daily Le Figaro shortly after the report was made public, vice president of ADEFDROMIL Michel Bavoil criticized the Legion over its training methods, claiming he had seen images of "legionnaires crawling around at night in their boots and underwear, while a high-ranking officer towers over them with a big stick and a beer."

According to Bessy, only a handful of recruits enlist because, like Franks, they are attracted to the "legend of the Legion," or to the romantic view of it being a place for a troubled man to start over. The number of ex-cons and outlaws who see enrollment in the Legion as a chance to turn over a new leaf is similarly small, he says.

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The vast majority of legionnaires are simply motivated by the promise of a visa, according to Bessy.

"Of the 800 legionnaires recruited each year, 90 percent enroll for economic reasons," says Bessy. "They are hoping to obtain a residence permit [for France] when their five-year contract comes to an end."

Legionnaires whose home country is not part of the European Union depend entirely on the "certificate of good conduct," which is issued at the end of five years in the Legion.

"Being granted a residence permit is entirely conditional on obtaining a certificate of good conduct," says Bessy. "It's a means of pressure for the Legion command, a sword of Damocles." According to Bessy, a certificate may be denied for "being late, [incidents involving] alcohol, fights — things that happen a lot in the life of a legionnaire."

"No certificate and you can find yourself on the streets despite five years of service," adds Bessy.

A government report presented in 2010 by French deputy and former justice minister Marylise Lebranchu called for "revisiting the rights of legionnaires."

When contacted by VICE News, a spokesperson from the French Foreign Legion declined to comment on the case of Lawrence J. Franks Jr., or on the Legion's training methods, but remarked that, "The Legion is constantly adapting."

Crisis in the Central African Republic. Watch the VICE News documentary.

Follow Virgile dall'Armellina on Twitter @armellina

Image via Flickr.