Written By Brad Harness
The indoctrination and training of new recruits into the Foreign Legion units was structured, as one would expect from anything Army. But it was also brief.
Borys Nadiya found himself serving alongside three other Canadians as part of the Lion Legion, a battalion of some 600 foreigners from a dozen countries. They all spoke at least some English, even if their mother tongue was Czech, Polish, French, Italian, Nepalese, and more.
At least that made communicating during their training and future combat possible.
“I thought we would run through platoon and company level training,” he said to his barrack mate, Jim MacDonald, a retired Canadian soldier from Smithers. BC.
“Look,” said the other. “We have a roof over our heads, food at mealtime, and ammo and rifles. That’s more than I expected when I flew here from Edmonton.”
The other Canadian was Timmy Gleeson, a former infantry corporal who’d served in the PPCLI.
“Ya, me, too,” he added, nodding at what Borys had asked.
The next day found their concerns put to rest, as the battalion’s companies and platoons took to the training fields. The Legion’s instructors took them through a series of personal combat skills drills, before moving over for some target practice on the gunnery range.
The week carried on like this before platoon tactical drills began the following week. They made sure that - like a hockey team on the ice - everyone knew his role.
The third week saw the company level training, and brought in armoured vehicles, and the infamous drones that were in the news daily. That in itself was something Borys and his Canadian comrades had never experienced, and being taught how to employ them as well as destroy them was an important new combat skill.
Week 4 was a battalion level live-firing exercise. Among other things, it reminded the Legionnaires, almost all of whom had served in various other national armies in the past, to stay alert, keep their head down, and how to stay alive in order to defeat the enemy.
After 28 days, they boarded coaches to ferry them to the front lines.
“That’s all we get, boys,” joked an American to a Brit. An Aussie and a Kiwi laughed along with him.
NEXT WEEK: PART 7
