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"Your failure at the Asparagus was somewhat surprising. "
"You had no determination."
"I didn't get why a guy like ya didn't go for it."
"You gave two tries then gave up."
"And that was it. See what I mean?"
"That was bad. And it was somewhat out of character, wasn't it?" "Yes, it was."
"Keep an eye on that."
"OK, off you go."
"And the last one: Benoît!"
Villeminoz has some trouble winning the instructors over, especially regarding his leadership qualities.
"You must be a leader, 'cause if you pass Selection, next year you'll be CO of an operational platoon."
"And we wanna witness that kinda qualities from next week on."
"Great. Have a nice weekend." "Thanks."
"Have a fun weekend, 'cause next week will be tough." "I know."
"We'll start the boxing part."
"Too bad for your pretty nose!"
"Anyway, you're single?" "Yes, but it can add a manly touch."
It's the last meal before weekend leave. Benoît Villeminoz and the others will join their families.
"I hope there'll be extra spaghetti!"
But as usual, GIGN instructors have prepared a few surprises.
"I wanna see Stéphane and Matthieu."
"First Stéphane, then Matthieu."
Stéphane doesn't realize it yet, but his performance in the first two weeks was subpar.
"You marginally passed Test Week. I supported you and I trust you, Stéphane."
"Now your capacities are borderline. But with training, you can do nothing but progress."
"You must progress in the shooting range."
"Unfortunately, you're on a downward slope and that ain't good."
"I think you're not involved enough, you seem detached from some things."
"I always give everything I've got."
"Give everything."
"At least, I don't have any injuries."
"You're gonna stay this weekend. Be aware that you’re close to getting the third strike."
"Bring Matthieu in."
Everybody was looking forward to this weekend leave following the first two weeks.
"Second or third door on the right."
But because of their weak performance, Stéphane and Matthieu will stay.
Their weekend program consists in all the garrison chores.
"It's the second weekend and I'm stuck here with Matthieu."
"Two guys are on duty each weekend and this is our turn."
"Thus we'll get rid of this chore."
"It's a chore 'cause I'd rather be with my wife and daughter this weekend."
"but someone's got to do this chore."
Benoît Villeminoz has chosen to spend his leave in Paris.
"It's good to have a stroll because you can't sleep for 48 hours."
"You need to relax, take your mind off the stress, enjoy the beauty of the city."
"And that's it."
But at this stage, our junior officer is beset by doubt.
"I don't know if I'll be able to succeed."
"The point is to test our limits"
"and that's not a good thing if protracted in the long-term."
"The purpose is to train and learn new skills."
"I think that being pushed to your limits without learning anything is pointless."
"Too much testing is no good."
Week 3 of Selection
"On the ground!"
A new week begins for the candidates.
"Get up!"
"Forward roll!"
"Backward roll!"
Today's exercise is led by Mickaël, a GIGN operative with a strong voice.
"And now for the push-ups!"
"Down!"
"Up! Who's slacking off over there?"
"Down!"
"Up!"
"Down! You, lower your shoulders!"
"Up!"
"Everybody in the puddle! Got it?"
This is called "mindless jogging" in the GIGN.
"Is this a herd or what?"
"Only two of you wanna join the unit or what?"
"Everybody past the wall! Hurry up!"
"5... 4... 3..."
"Help each other!"
"What the f*** is this group?"
"At 5, everybody on this side! Go!"
"5... 4... 3... 2..."
"Too long! Get back to the other side!"
"Get down!"
"Get down in the water!"
"Everybody in the water!"
"In the water!"
"Come on!"
"Head in the water!"
"You, over there! Head in the water!"
"Hey, your back ain't wet!"
This series of exercises will last nearly 3 hours and a half, during which about 10 full-fledged operatives
scrutinize the 20 candidates' reactions.
Any candidate giving up during this test will be discarded.
"We're especially testing their mental resistance."
"The point is to exhaust them physically, to see who's got an above average mental resistance"
"to the kind of pressure and stress you may encounter in operations."
"These tests are tough mentally and physically as well."
"Gendarme Walter feels pain in his shoulder."
"The pain was sharp, I knew it was over."
"That's the ruthlessness of Selection. You have to accept it."
"How do you feel now? Are you bitter?"
"Yes, I am. I've been in the Gendarmerie for 10 years,"
"I had been looking forward to joining this elite unit for 10 years."
This is the end of Gendarme Walter's dream.
"Try to bounce back."
"That kinda setback hurts, but I'll be fine."
"At least your girl will be happy." "I hope so!"
"Start a nice family and bounce back on something else."
"We'll meet again!" "Yeah, sure!"
"So long. Come and see us again anytime!"
Gendarme Walter is the first candidate to leave the Group since Selection began.
Lieutenant Benoît Villeminoz is thus even more cautious.
"It's over for him, while he deserved to succeed perhaps more than any of us."
"It's something humbling, you realize you can get hurt anytime and it's over."
"You really must be humble."
Next training session: boxing. But today the point is not boxing as such,
since only very few candidates have practised boxing before.
"Give me a nasty look!"
The instructors want to test first and foremost the candidates' fighting spirit
and their pain tolerance.
"Hey bud! This is no summer camp!"
"Punch hard! Really really hard!"
"Harder! Harder!"
"That's it! Way to go!"
Facing instructor Jean-Luc, Benoît Villeminoz lacks technique but takes punch after punch.
Stéphane Poulain's nasty look doesn't shield him from punches.
"Here! Wanna hurt me? Hit here!"
"That's it!"
But Stéphane lets his guard down and a left jab knocks him to the ground.
"Let's go!"
"What's the problem?" "I can't see a thing!"
"I can't see you!"
"The bucket. The bucket over there!"
"Stéphane, you OK?" "I can't see anything."
MASTER SERGEANT JEAN-LUC V. - GIGN Instructor
"Obviously Poulain couldn't take such a blow."
"He took the punch near the eyebrow and the optical nerve must have been hit."
"But that ain't serious."
"Letting your guard down can be fatal."
"First you learn to defend yourself, then give back punches."
"In this session, we're assessing their level before we start honing their skills."