By Alexander Perepechko

Published on September 13, 2015

Limitations of the Gurkha and Foreign Legion Models

We continue investigating an unheroic realism in America during Late Modernity. In my two previous research essays, I showed how small families and refusal to tolerate combat casualties impact the securitization of the West. It was conjectured that the Gurkha model of the British army and the foreign legion model of the French army can potentially be copied by Americans to circumvent the intolerance of casualties. Both models have, however, drawbacks and consequences.

A segmented labor market is part and parcel of life in western societies. Segmentation can result in different groups, for example foreigners and native born, receiving different wages, benefits, and privileges. Gurkha veterans continue fighting for equal pensions with the British soldiers they serve alongside (Who are, 2010). In 2007, these veterans won a partial victory when pension rules were changed to give serving Gurkha soldiers equal pension rights with other service personnel in the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, the British Gurkha Welfare Society claimed that about twenty-five thousand men, who had retired before July 1st, 1997, were denied the opportunity to transfer into UK armed forces pension schemes. This organization stated that the government had acted unlawfully by paying Gurkha veterans only a third of the income of UK-based soldiers.
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