Foreign Legion Recruiting Group

The Foreign Legion Recruiting Group (French: Groupement de recrutement de la Légion étrangère, GRLE) is an administrative unit of the Foreign Legion responsible for recruiting volunteers from around the globe. The unit reports to the Foreign Legion Command (COMLE). The COMLE sets the annual recruitment objectives based on inputs from the French Army staff, l'Etat-Major de l'Armée de Terre (EMAT), and the initial projections of the Foreign Legion Human Resources Division (DRHLE).

The GRLE was created July 10, 2007 at Fort de Nogent, near Paris. The new unit assumed all recruiting responsibilities which had previously been assigned to the 1st Foreign Regiment's Recruitment Division.

In order to supply the Foreign Legion with the required volunteers, the Recruiting Group promotes volunteer service by targeting the world public. This work informs potential candidates and leads to a pre-selection process followed by a contract of engagement at Aubagne.

While the mission of the Foreign Legion Recruiting Group is primarily focused on recruiting; the GRLE also carried out other functions, including training and supporting missions of the French Army both in France and abroad.

The GRLE headquarters is located at Fort de Nogent, at Fontenay-sous-bois. The regimental commander supervises the Transit Company of the Foreign Legion (CTLE) and the Recruiting Company of the Foreign Legion (CRLE), with principal mission of:

The Transit Company of the Foreign Legion (CTLE), assumed part of the responsibility for the missions of the 1st Foreign Regiment CTLE dissolved on July 10 and is responsible for:

The mission of the Foreign Legion Information Posts (PILE) in Paris (3 posts), Lille, Nantes, Paris - Fort Neuf de Vincennes, Paris, Paris, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Perpignan, Toulouse, consist of maintaining a quality recruitment that minimizes the circle of francophones while simultaneously maintaining diversity by the multiple presence of various origins.

The PILE, unlike the recruiting posts of the remainder of the French Army, uses civilian services and military resources to launch activities that would attract potential candidates through expositions, mobile information trucks and other mobile information posts. The Foreign Legion only recruits in France. The Foreign Legion will not obtain permanent visas for prospective recruits to travel to France, nor finance any voyage to France.