Though I agree with your general sentiment (I love an anti-French joke as much as the next guy, but it’s a bit sad that people that probably have never heard of Verdun assume all French are cowards) but the “French Foreign Legion” is, by law, composed of non-Frenchmen enlisted - the “Foreign” refers to where the troops come from. It’s mostly English, Russians, and Germans. The officers are French, though, and Frenchmen sneak in to the ranks by declaring a false citizenship.
> Frenchmen sneak in to the ranks by declaring a false citizenship.
Not so. From the French Foreign Legion FAQ:
> Can a Frenchman join the Foreign Legion ?
>
> Yes. Under “declared identity” a Frenchman’s nationality is changed to that of another French speaking country, so he becomes a foreigner. He can ask for his real identity and nationality after one year’s service .
You will find it here: http://www.legion-recrute.com/en/faq.php
There’s no “sneaking” about it: Frenchmen may join as a matter of policy. You are right about it being “foreign” by law, but it is not the intention to exclude French volunteers.
The Legion has always been a French force, built along French military doctrine and led by French officers. French citizenship is one of the rewards offered to volunteers who serve for a fixed period of time.
The fact that their grunts originate from foreign lands initially is neither here nor there: the same can be said about the United States armed forces, or indeed the armed forces of many nations, including New Zealand.
It is not a requirement to be a United States Citizen to serve in your armed forces. Same deal with the Foreign Legion — except that they cater specifically to those who are not French.
I have a book called “It Ain’t Hell, But You Can See It From Here” about the Gulf War. There’s an incident in it where an American soldier, having heard that the French rations are practically gourmet food (IIRC, the exchange rat was 3 MREs to 1 French meal, and some French troops wouldn’t trade for food at all, just militaria items like patches and weapons) is trying to negotiate with a Foreign Legion member using barely-remembered first year high school French, and the Legionairre says, “Would y’all quit that? I’m from Atlanta!”
On edit: The french have an excellent waterborne counter-terror group called the Commandos Marine that would be even better than the Legion for this sort of work.