Creating a foreign legion military unit for a (fictional) African/Middle East country

Doing this slowly, but I'm world building this idea of a foreign legion unit used by a North African/Middle East country. Giving some thoughts, but I thought that one idea is that a former ruler had been involved with the FFL in his younger days as an influence in the Cold War.

If I remember correctly, the French Foreign Legion serves French interests outside of France. If that's an aspect you intend to adopt, it could be difficult in that not a lot of nations any more have an unchallenged military presence outside their own borders (of course, that might not be a problem, depending on what kind of story you're writing). Or did you only intend to adopt the "legion of foreigners" aspect?

The latter part is what I plan to do. The FFL experience is the inspiration, but it's not a total clone. It'll be there for said country to exercise its muscle overseas mostly. But there may be times when their presence is needed on a domestic scale.

edited 14th Jan '17 9:59:32 PM by Ominae

To whom do they owe allegiance? Members of the FFL, for instance, swear their allegiance to the FFL rather than to France. It's an interesting mindset, and basic training in the FFL is both physically and psychologically rigorous. You abandon all loyalties except to the Legion. The put a lot of emphasis on esprit de corps, which is why they still, to this day, shoot deserters.

Lots of nations have some provision of another for allowing foreigners to serve in their military (in the US one needs a valid greencard to join, though you have to be a citizen in order to be an officer). One thing I suppose you'd need to consider is what kind of incentives they'd offer applicants. The FFL is famous (or infamous, if you'd rather) for accepting and sheltering criminals from other nations,

Is the purpose of the foreign legion just to protect the ruler, a la a Varangian Guard, or to draw in talent (or the desperate) to create a special unit for well, special situations?

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

For all intents and purposes, a newly-minted Legionnaire has his past history expunged, and is thereafter a French citizen (sometimes under a new name) with a blank slate.

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.

Keep in mind that the FFL only got off the ground because a lot of foreigners were taking refuge in France.

So you have to establish why suddenly there was a ton of foreigners thought that North Africa/the Middle East was a good place to lie low.

A Legionnaire can apply for French citizenship after serving for 3 years, and become an instant citizen if they're wounded while in service, under a provision called Francais par le sang verse, or, "French by spilled blood."

What would the difference be between your foreign legion and the Area88 mercenaries? (The Area 88 group is the somewhat unrealistic halfway point between a realistic foreign legion and a private military company.)

Sorry for not answering early. Got busy, but I'll try to answer what I can for now.

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@Robbery

- Like the real FFL, recruits will be loyal to the legion since in-universe, the founder was inspired by his time there.

You're right about incentives. Only thing I got is permanent rights to live in said country. Still figuring out what else makes sense for a ME country to get benefits...

@Century Eye

- Its history is that it's formed by British officers with some Arabs seconded by them. Later on, it gets turned into an all-foreign unit (Not much non-Arabs commanded by Brits, so they're a minortiy) when a rogue military unit tried to assassinate their leader (aka the country's leader), kinda similar to what happened in Oman. It gets reformed over time to recruit anyone with military skills. They do accept fresh ones...

Later on, it turns to a rapid reaction force as a means of asserting its regional power.

Though with this history, I may boot this to a fictional ME country.

@Belisaurius

- I think it'll depend on the setting. Two things I have in mind is either in the 1980s/90s against a pro-communist insurgency or recent against a pro-Extreme Islamist insurgency. That'll be a motive for some people who may want to join.

@Deus Denuo

- Glad to see someone mention that. Other than its ground forces like the FFL, I guess nothing much (I have reservation on an all-air force legion unless someone persuades me...). Though in terms of how they're equipped, the country's oil wealth would help it get good gear. One thing I had in mind is with recent reforms to the military (If placed in modern times), they're the last to get new gear due to priorities of reequipping the regulars. So there's the rivalry based on country's military history.

PS - Having a fictional country host the legion means I have dibs on what type of gear they have, depending on the era.

edited 18th Jan '17 1:57:13 AM by Ominae

Why not turn it into a rapid reaction landing force? If you go with say, Tunisia, you don't need to invent a fictional country. The Tunisians could have a role controlling Mediterranean piracy and human trafficking as well as facilitating trade between and visiting exotic locales all over southern Europe and the Levant. (At least that's what the Tunisians do in my tale).

There's also partial inspiration from Carthage here. Its army (at least according to the Romans) consisted almost entirely of foreign volunteers/mercenaries, and they signed up for the loot and temporary employment. They didn't necessarily stay in Carthage when campaigns ended. In modern times, getting to travel the high seas and the prestige of asserting power in a NATO lake each have their own appeal and conflict potential.

edited 17th Jan '17 6:56:31 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Well the rapid reaction force approach is what the fictional legion will evolve to, similar to the French approach.

And it's interesting that you mention the Tunisia example as they were a French colony. I'm not sure on what Tunis can offer to potential foreign legion recruits.

Initial planning is made that the country hosting the legion would be based in the ME, which would easily place it in the GCC. Of course, the great oil/natural gas would be able to benefit the legion since it'll be able to modernize itself greatly after the ruler is gone from power.

Always open to more questions/maybe some leeway to other stuff.

What's their military doctrine? Do they have an armored corp? Aviation division? Can they count on support from their sponsor state? Who's paying them anyway?

In that case, you might use the Kurds. The old Assyrian/Iraqi levies were raised by the British with almost the exact history your giving your unit. (Minus the genocide against the Assyrians partly by the Kurds, but that can add a redemption element to the unit). You can probably borrow from the history of the international brigades also given the current political situation.

That would pull you out of the GCC, but those countries main story arcs might be limited to choosing sides in the proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

I've found that the difference between "new gear" and "old gear" is the skill/creativity required to use it effectively. And no, I wouldn't bother with any air support at all besides transportation, as that cuts down story opportunities somewhat.

I wonder if you're familiar with Armored Trooper VOTOMS? The Kummen Arc was pretty much something like that - albeit in a jungle rather than the ME - and the conflict was your standard "modernization vs. old ways" civil war. This of course opens the door to a proxy war if the country in trouble has anything valuable in its borders, or perhaps apathy from outside nations if the fighting is really that contained.

I'll call it the External Enforcement Étrangers for now.

@Belisarius

- Their doctrine is rapid reaction, domestic or overseas. They'll have armored and aviation, but probably limited to transport choppers and medium/heavy lift aircraft like C-130s.

As for salaries, the state is taking care of it courtesy of the relevant government department/ministry.

@Century Eye

- You mean like a !AU Real Kurdistan or the same Kurdistan, except that the Peshmarga has a volunteer Corp?

@Deus Denuo

- Heard of VOTOMS, but I don't think it aired on Philippine TV, but I read enough to know what it is.

One story plot I got (Tried it on a RP) is with the old guard refusing to admit that their "paranoid" leader is wrong and seeks to put him or a supporter of his in power. The only thing is to figure is to set it in the 80s/90s or modern times.

Well that reminds me of the South African/Rhodesian ops in the Cold War, so that can work.

Either way. Making a political statement of some kind on them in these times if you write about it is unavoidable though. The Kurds'll fail state practice 101 if they don't write it up, but there are 1000 novels of Napoleon out there, and this is essentially a high fantasy story (hold the magic and the moral certainty) just waiting.
All of the elements of an old-timey epic/founding myth are there ^note  fighting for a homeland, building what's ostensibly a disaster democracy literally from the ground level under extreme duress, becoming a potential refuge for migrants as the rest of the world turns increasingly unfriendly (allowing for homesteader stories and potential trade opportunities from the networks that immigrants from Europe may bring), and redemption quests (in contrast to the Assyrian genocide mentioned earlier, modern Assyrians (and other minorities) tend to join Kurdish units) and it can add quite some tension being part of a foreign legion that can trace its history to the very foundation of the state^note  "and this is where we held the mattress factory and defended ten thousand children and the last schools for 100 miles. My mother fought there that day. My father taught there that day and has seen all of these kids off to their lives. One treated my burns. One designed this rifle. One makes a damn good club sandwich. One planned these roads we're marching on. Hell, one bent me over and checked my prostate last week. Every step we take and every sore spot down there proves our unit did its duty. Will you do yours? Because, if you want that good life for your children, you damn well better prove how much you want it.
And it doesn't need a happy ending either. See the Spanish Civil War ^note Western states seem to treat the various Kurdish factions rather like the Spanish Republic in the 30s while both the republic and the Kurds got volunteers from those same states—one reason why I suggested international brigades earlier (and Homage to Catalonia in particular) for how local experiments in the midst of regional upheaval can go down in flames.

edited 20th Jan '17 7:00:03 AM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

I'll keep that in mind. It's an interesting idea, especially since the Peshmerga are getting generous donations alongside spec ops training

Not that Turkey has noticed. Though if the path to write it is for AU Kurdistan to be a state, then I'll have to explore it and see what I can do with it.

edited 20th Jan '17 7:04:37 AM by Ominae

Thanks for the input.

Now it's down to two options:

1. Set in a fictional ME country, but not in the Gulf so that it doesn't get pulled into the GCC.

2. Do it with Kurdistan, either the autonomous one that has a Peshmerga contingent for foreign volunteers or an AU version where Kurdistan did "win" independence. Most of the traditional lands would be unified or (Not sure) or just parts of Iraq and Syria that have traditional Kurdish territory since Turkey and Iran are actively involved in suppressing their own populace.

Setting this up in the 80s/90s makes me squee aside from seeing FA Ls in action, but also the story idea from fighting pro-communists. Modern times would see maybe pro-ISIS or extreme Islamists. Haven't decided which era is better in terms of gear and other stuff I haven't looked at.

Probably will need assistance since I'm studying the current FFL structure and see if I need to modify it for the Middle East setting.

Also looking for a good Middle Eastern country name.

edited 24th Jan '17 5:07:55 AM by Ominae

Not a military guy, but SW Asia has seen a lot of countries. Names from the past include:

• Bet Nahrain (House of the Rivers, more or less = Mesopotamia)
• Elam or Susiana (old civilizations occupying the Iranian Plateau before the Persians)
• Osroene or Adiabene (Ancient Assyrian Kingdoms)
• Sittacene a region dominated by the city of Sittace
• Hatti (Capital Hattusa and land of the Hittites)
• Bet Arbaye/ Arbayistan (modern northern Mesopotamia)
• Batihah ("Capital" Mokhtara, a marsh dweller/outlaw state where {before Batihah was actually a thing} slaves among others famously rebelled against the Abbasid Caliphate. Mokhtara was capital of the rebels.)
  • From Wikipedia: "The Batihah was a marshland. It was composed of many reeds, which in certain areas gave way to open lagoons. The reeds made the marsh very difficult for enemies to travel through; only small boats that were driven by poles could navigate the area. Because of this, the Batihah was almost invulnerable to attack and its inhabitants were able to maintain their independence for the better part of a century."
  • Just happen to know from a book about the Marsh Arabs that their descendants (at least as of the mid-twentieth century) will judge people by their ability to shoot local pigs from a rickety raft (and not run when the gigantic, always angry, things with tusks ready to gore people inevitably charge you when you miss). Though if you're invited into someone's home, you can eat mountains of rice and gravy with your hands.
• Iram on the Pillars (a legendary and extremely wealthy city hidden in the desert)
  
  

As for the time period, you can always do both. You can focus on one time as the main character is guiding a new generation and occasionally touch on the other as the source of the lessons she learned herself, or follow her through a full bildungsroman, or even follow mentor then mentee in a generational saga.

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Interesting story idea. That may work.

I'll have to settle on a country name then.

I'll see the structure of the FFL and modify it and brainstorm what are the benefits of joining said legion aside from permanent rights to live in with eventual citizenship.

Reflecting on the map now, I may need to make the landmass of the fictional country a bit bigger.

Before I forget, I plan to have the legion use English, as part of said country's historical roots being a British protectorate even though the main language is Arabic. The latter is used when interacting with other Arabic-speaking military units.

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Interim Structure:

• Command
• 1st/2nd Foreign Cavalry Regiment
• (Ibid) Foreign Engineer Regiment
• (Ibid) Foreign Infantry Regiment
• Legion Specs Ops Regiment/Battalion —> Not sure yet.

edited 30th Jan '17 5:55:41 AM by Ominae

Why regiments, specifically? No one really uses those anymore.