CBC: "An 'embarrassing' gear shortage has Canadian troops in Latvia buying their own helmets"

[Furniture]

It's all a big joke until these fellows show up a baseball throw from your port bridge wing.

Meh... We had some weird encounters in the Straights of Hormuz back then too. The RCN kept RCNing...

I think it's been a combination of the world getting bit rougher, and people in leadership positions with a bit of real world knowledge pushing for a more competent FP plan. The spate of shootings at USN dockyards likely changed a few minds as well...

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Meh... We had some weird encounters in the Straights of Hormuz back then too. The RCN kept RCNing...

I think it's been a combination of the world getting bit rougher, and people in leadership positions with a bit of real world knowledge pushing for a more competent FP plan. The spate of shootings at USN dockyards likely changed a few minds as well...

Don't get me wrong, I know the attitude and type you're speaking of. They still exist but are increasingly at a more senior rank and not in a position where they have as much influence at the tactical level.

 

[Eaglelord17]

I think you missed the point I was making.

Also, that sounds like it was ages ago. Underway Force Protection on HMC Ships is basically exclusively carried out by NTOG if embarked or the Ship's NBP nowadays.

NTOG itself is even developing a Designated Marksman capability:


I've run a number of Force Protection exercises, done a number of actual high risk transits and acted as the QRT IC on many occasions. I can assure you, as a former Infanteer, force protection was taken very seriously by me and others.

I am glad they improved it because it was pretty terrible. My experiences would have been around 2013-2015.

 

[MARS]

I am glad they improved it because it was pretty terrible. My experiences would have been around 2013-2015.

Same years. Can confirm. East coast

 

[KevinB]

In part, small numbers are the Navy's friend. Larger purchases for the Army are more expensive, requiring higher level approvals, and attracting more "Buy from us, we will deliver late and suboptimal, but the billing address will be in an opportune location" attention.

TBFH that is a crock, as the CA never buys enough kit anyway
A lot of equipment the CA has bought is effectively what we’d call TPE, as it exists only for theatre deployed entities.

If the CA was actually planning Force Mod at the Individual Solider level, a lot of knowledge could be learned from DHTC and CSOR.

Some items could even be initially bought for deployments and let the units keep it after - forming a continual supply of new equipment to the system.

A lot of DLR folks are self licking ice cream cones, and a lot of STANO gear has been stagnant for 20+ years.
I recall the Army buying more SIMRAD’s in 2010, and while I was working down here, I tried to explain why the RFP was just a colossal mess. The SIMRAD had been obsolete by 2001, and DHTC already had PVS-22 UNS inline systems (and others).

I don’t understand why the CA can’t leverage CANSOF for certain equipment items, or at least inform some requirements.

 

[dapaterson]

The Army has mastered the art of buying too little to equip the force, but too much to come in under the "easy to buy" thresholds.

And the Army and CANSOF have a non zero amount of friction between them...

 

[MJP]

TBFH that is a crock, as the CA never buys enough kit anyway
A lot of equipment the CA has bought is effectively what we’d call TPE, as it exists only for theatre deployed entities.

If the CA was actually planning Force Mod at the Individual Solider level, a lot of knowledge could be learned from DHTC and CSOR.

Some items could even be initially bought for deployments and let the units keep it after - forming a continual supply of new equipment to the system.

A lot of DLR folks are self licking ice cream cones, and a lot of STANO gear has been stagnant for 20+ years.
I recall the Army buying more SIMRAD’s in 2010, and while I was working down here, I tried to explain why the RFP was just a colossal mess. The SIMRAD had been obsolete by 2001, and DHTC already had PVS-22 UNS inline systems (and others).

I don’t understand why the CA can’t leverage CANSOF for certain equipment items, or at least inform some requirements.

We are continually stuck in the buy it all at once, but not enough and then husband it mode. It also doesn't help that even if you had contract options that we are pretty small potatoes and a pain to deal with which limits the amount of folks that want to deal with us and likely drives up the price. Adding to this is the teams that do the project development and initial buys are not generally always the folks doing the in service management and because we already bought X 4 years ago, we aren't looking at buying it again for 15 years when the tech cycle and our usage has stripped the usefullness from that equipment and we enter crisis husband resources mode.

rinse repeat

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Before we went to Bosnia, we got issued a new helmet to replace our tin pot. Had a heck of a time making the blue cloth cover fit properly. One of the Mechs showed up with his nice and tight. He had used a staple gun to hold it to the helmet. Once that got out we had to turn them all in for a new type about 3 weeks later.

 

[OldSolduer]

Let’s go back in history. Like 1975. Recce patrols went lightly armed with maybe 2 mags 7.62 or a 9mm SMG with two thirty round mags. No helmets, and just the basic stuff on your webbing. Light and stealthy.

So yeah I think what a soldier carries is task dependent.
There’s too many good idea fairies in the CAF.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Let’s go back in history. Like 1975. Recce patrols went lightly armed with maybe 2 mags 7.62 or a 9mm SMG with two thirty round mags. No helmets, and just the basic stuff on your webbing. Light and stealthy.

So yeah I think what a soldier carries is task dependent.
There’s too many good idea fairies in the CAF.

Typical for Assault Troop also, even up to the point when they dissolved them.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Meh... We had some weird encounters in the Straights of Hormuz back then too. The RCN kept RCNing...

I think it's been a combination of the world getting bit rougher, and people in leadership positions with a bit of real world knowledge pushing for a more competent FP plan. The spate of shootings at USN dockyards likely changed a few minds as well...

A Straits of Hormuz transit is as close as I have ever come to lighting somebody up with a C6….

 

[Furniture]

A Straits of Hormuz transit is as close as I have ever come to lighting somebody up with a C6….

For me it was the highway between Maywand and Kandahar... Dude got the message when I swung the C6 toward him.

 

[CBH99]

The Army has mastered the art of buying too little to equip the force, but too much to come in under the "easy to buy" thresholds.

And the Army and CANSOF have a non zero amount of friction between them...

Why does the Army & CANSOF have that friction?

 

[OldSolduer]

A Straits of Hormuz transit is as close as I have ever come to lighting somebody up with a C6….

That’s a nasty area of the world.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Sort of but not always.
Take our helmets for example. The CG634 entered service in 1996/1997 and was the CAF helmet until replaced by the CM735 beginning I believe in 2020/2021.

The CM735 has retained the overall profile and features of the CG634 and its main improvement is a 23% reduction in weight. However the CM735 does not have an integral NVG mount or ability to integrate active hearing protection.

Those two features are ones that have been asked for since the mid 2000s and are now integral to the helmets being adopted since the mid 2010s.
The Australian Defence Force as an example adopted the Team Wendy Exfil Ballistic Helmet in 2015 which features both rails to accommodate hearing protection and an integral NVG mount.

Why our latest helmet did not incorporate those items is baffling. Its not that helmets were/are still evolving rapidly.

Some tech such as NVGs does have a shorter operational lifespan but that's an argument for more frequent smaller buys that cascade the previous generation equipment to the Reserves and/or mobilization stockpiles vs the once a generation orders to equip the entire CAF.

The more rapid and frequent procurement models are something that are increasingly being pushed for across other forces as they seek to stay on the edge of technology.

Priorities have changed or IOW: How can you have your pudding if you don't eat your meat?

Anand to report to Parliament on military sexual misconduct recommendations - National | Globalnews.ca

Louise Arbour had warned the top ranks of the Canadian Armed Forces are 'incapable' of recognizing the 'deficient' parts of military culture in her damning report.

globalnews.ca

 

[OldSolduer]

I have started to jot things down on paper and will have a kind of a primer on what infantry persons should carry on ops.

"It depends" will be seen a lot

 

[WLSC]

One of the big challenges on kitting the infantry is the 3 mafias. A basic exemple is the test that have been made for a pair of gloves. 2 testers from each regiments, 6 pairs of gloves, the choices went by cap badge.

We can’t agree for a pair of gloves, tac vest, light, mech, with or with out armour and even less on which type of armour the infantry would preferred. We are not able the make the vehicle buyers understand what type of LUV we would like for Light bn. We are not even able to have the same CADPAT in a unit (I still see the first version with the buttons out).

Are you really surprised of what happening?

 

[daftandbarmy]

I have started to jot things down on paper and will have a kind of a primer on what infantry persons should carry on ops.

"It depends" will be seen a lot

I'll be interested to see if 'The Husif' makes the cut

 

[OldSolduer]

I'll be interested to see if 'The Husif' makes the cut

The what?

 

[daftandbarmy]

The what?

Husiff = Housewife = Sewing kit

The CAF actually issues a pretty good one. I carried a pretty beefy one myself.

I've even seen them extend to including crochet needles for, you know, whiling away the hours in the back of a Herc on a long insertion to a remote DZ

1944 Pattern Hussif

In the past we have looked at the standard British Army hussif or housewife; tonight we are going to consider the version produced as part of the 1944 pattern tropical kit. In the jungle a sewing k…

talesfromthesupplydepot.blog