Tweet
I was thinking, given that the Infantry branches are something like 3000 people short, and I believe the Gunners are also in short supply, might it be a good idea for the British Army to start it's own Foreign Legion?
Considering something like 10% of the British Army aren't British as is, it's not exactly a huge leap in policy. My idea would be to raise combat units that are composed (at the Enlisted level) of foreigners who needn't come from within in the Commonwealth, so you could recruit from a wider base. The benefits scheme could be similar to the LE, with citizenship awarded after four years, or if wounded in the line of duty. And volunteer killed in the line of duty earns citizenship for their family (dependent, immediate family anyway). The language requirements could be lowered and there could be a specialist training course to bring non-English speaking recruits up to speed, a la the Brigade of Gurkhas. Of course, like the LE, there'd need to be background checks. The assumed name thing is kind of cool and might help to pull recruits that want the romance of starting over.
The formation could start off raising one Battalion as an experiement and then expanding to include Artillery, Combat Support, Sappers etc. as the LE has done, once it's proven to be workable and a larger recruiting base can be found. To satisfy the PC crowd, female recruits could do all the jobs they can do in the rest of the Army. Plus it's good for martial law with the searching people and mosques thing. There'd be no grouping of personnel on the basis of ethnicity, religion etc.
I think a cool idea would be to have the formation adopt the traditions not of the LE but rather of the King's German Legion and other mercenary units that have fought for the British back in Imperial times. The overall operational purpose of the Legion could be to raise rapid-reaction units for first response to overseas incidents, based on the theory that people would have less of a winge about foreign volunteers being sent overseas to fight than they might otherwise do when it's someone from their own Nation. I think a cool name would be something like the Crown Foreign Legion, or the Queen's Multi-National Legion or something like that. I would imagine a lot of recruits would come from the Thrid World or places in strife, since the chance for winning citizenship for themselves and at least Residency for their immediate family would be very attractive, and no one could really ***** that they hadn't earnt it. Plus, making pounds would be attractive.
Personally I'd have no problem serving in it if one were to be formed while I'm in the British Army (if of course I get picked and all that).
So, do the people who know think it would be workable?
Considering something like 10% of the British Army aren't British as is, it's not exactly a huge leap in policy. My idea would be to raise combat units that are composed (at the Enlisted level) of foreigners who needn't come from within in the Commonwealth, so you could recruit from a wider base. The benefits scheme could be similar to the LE, with citizenship awarded after four years, or if wounded in the line of duty. And volunteer killed in the line of duty earns citizenship for their family (dependent, immediate family anyway). The language requirements could be lowered and there could be a specialist training course to bring non-English speaking recruits up to speed, a la the Brigade of Gurkhas. Of course, like the LE, there'd need to be background checks. The assumed name thing is kind of cool and might help to pull recruits that want the romance of starting over.
The formation could start off raising one Battalion as an experiement and then expanding to include Artillery, Combat Support, Sappers etc. as the LE has done, once it's proven to be workable and a larger recruiting base can be found. To satisfy the PC crowd, female recruits could do all the jobs they can do in the rest of the Army. Plus it's good for martial law with the searching people and mosques thing. There'd be no grouping of personnel on the basis of ethnicity, religion etc.
I think a cool idea would be to have the formation adopt the traditions not of the LE but rather of the King's German Legion and other mercenary units that have fought for the British back in Imperial times. The overall operational purpose of the Legion could be to raise rapid-reaction units for first response to overseas incidents, based on the theory that people would have less of a winge about foreign volunteers being sent overseas to fight than they might otherwise do when it's someone from their own Nation. I think a cool name would be something like the Crown Foreign Legion, or the Queen's Multi-National Legion or something like that. I would imagine a lot of recruits would come from the Thrid World or places in strife, since the chance for winning citizenship for themselves and at least Residency for their immediate family would be very attractive, and no one could really ***** that they hadn't earnt it. Plus, making pounds would be attractive.
Personally I'd have no problem serving in it if one were to be formed while I'm in the British Army (if of course I get picked and all that).
So, do the people who know think it would be workable?
Comment