A repeat offender of the DDR's border restrictions, Bolle spends seven years in prison before being ransomed by the BRD in 1973 for DM 50,000. He immediately offers his services to the U.S. Army for counterintelligence, is turned down, and settles in the South, where he quickly tires of being a metalworker. When he can find nowhere else to serve he joins the French Foreign Legion and is stationed in Corsica. Having honed his skills in sabotage and heavy weapons, Bolle deserts.