4e RE: 2022 Remise de Kepi blanc at Camp Carpiagne | French Foreign Legion Information

In late January 2022, a platoon of enlisted volunteers from the French Foreign Legion’s 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) finished their initial four-week instruction and were allowed to make a military oath. The ceremony took place at Camp Carpiagne, home to another Legion unit, the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC). As a matter of interest, the French national rugby team – Les Bleus – was present during the ceremony.

Traditionally, the four-month basic training of the Foreign Legion starts with an initial four-week instruction at one of the three isolated farms lying not far from Castelnaudary (home to the 4e RE) in Southern France. At the end of this initial instruction, a two-day march with full kit (about 40 miles / 60 km) occurs. It is known as the Marche de Kepi Blanc (White Kepi March). Every enlisted volunteer (the so-called EV) has to pass this test to get the right to make a military oath, obtain the sacred White Kepi and be called Legionnaire. This ceremony is known as Remise de Kepi blanc, Obtaining of White Kepi. Then, of course, the fresh legionnaire has to continue his basic training for the next three months.

This time the ceremony was presided by the Foreign Legion’s commander-in-chief, General Alain Lardet, and took place at Camp Carpiagne. The camp is located in Southern France, near the city of Marseille. It has served as a military base for the 1er REC since 2014, when the regiment moved there from the town of Orange.

At the same time, in late January 2022, the French national rugby team was training at the camp for a week, as part of their preparation before the 2022 Six Nations Rugby Championship featuring France, England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The championship starts on February 5.

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