Has anyone had anything stolen?

[gorf]

I am wondering if anyone (I know that not a lot of people do and I hate to think that they are in the military but.........) has ever had anything stolen from them. I was just thinking that I could have the odd "personal" kit and such that might be a little better or more expensive.........but what if it is stolen?   ( :-[   :'(   Anyway I was just wondering if it happens at all before I brought something special and "lost" it.

Again I hate to think that those kind of people would be in the Canadian military!

*If this is in the wrong section feel free to move it.*

 

[pbi]

I assume you are referring to issued items of kit.

First of all, if you think somebody stole an item of kit, report it immediately to your chain of command-they may tell you to make an MP report. Then, make sure you fill out a Loss and Damage Report, as soon as possible. Too often soldiers leave this part for weeks or months.

Once you have done the LDR, a decision will be taken to write off the loss (rarely...) or make you pay for some or all of the loss if your own negligence can be shown to have contributed to the loss. Examples of negligence are leaving kit lying about, loaning it to others, leaving it in your car (a car is not considered secure) or putting in a locker with no lock.

The resolution of the LDR proceeds separately from any MP investigation, although the chain of command can hold off on a decision until they see the results of the MP investigation, or of any trial proceeding that might follow. Cheers.

 

[GerryCan]

Believe it or not, there are thieves in the army. I haven't heard of too much issued kit being stolen, but it happens.
I do know that when I went on tour, our shacks got robbed countless times, even some of my own stuff got stolen. I'm not sure if any of the stuff was recovered, I know mine wasn't and I doubt I'll ever hear anything from the MP's.

 

[NavyGrunt]

Yup actually i've had Kit stolen from me in one form or another everytime I stayed in Nelles block in Esquimault......EVERYTIME.  :threat:
No matter the precautions I take. Its a matter of life in transient quarters...

 

[QORvanweert]

HA! if you think that is bad, try having an entire course on the parade square with all their kit because somebody stole some troop's helmet.. the day he got it issued...and then aside from two hours less sleep and some PT to motivate us, the bloody thing was never found and Pte. Bloggins now owes the CF 350+ dollars..

 

[Bob the builder]

Ill be heading to the surplus store and trying to find a cheap half-shelter because mine went missing on the last ex.  Worst part is I know the sergeant that picked it up, He just hasn't shown up in over a month, and now i have to get a new half-shelter before this comming ex.  Come to think of it, he might be from a different unit.  Just my luck.

 

[Gayson]

I had a pair of inner gloves stolen from me on a winter ex one time.  I ended up having to make due with my black outers only.

I really hate lending kit out to people, and when I do it is only to guys I have known for a while or parade with (that way I can track them down easily when I need the kit back).  I absolutely hate people who have no regard for peoples kit that they use and fuck it up.

On my last ex on a friday night it was dark, my battle buddy and I got our sleeping kit mixed up when we were told to move our shit about 20 feet (I picked up his, he grabbed mine).  When I got in bed I noticed their was no liner in the bag and reliezed we wre sleeping in eachothers bag, no big deal.  The next night I finally got to go to bed at 4am after patrolling for 20 hours on about 1 hour of sleep, I try to climb into my sleeping bag to find the guy the night before had untied some of my liner straps fucking the whole thing up and didn't tell me.  I am a firm believer in people setting up the kit they it is best for them, it makes things easier and more convienent.  It really was not such a big deal that my liner was fucked up except that it was frustrating to have to fuck around with my own kit when I was cold and tired after a long day because some asshat didn't have the common curtousy to tell me that they fucked around with my kit the night before.  :threat:

 

[Evocatus]

While it may be overlooked while one "expedites" surpluse kit from "the system" per say (read Base Supply/QM/RQ/CQ) it is a grevious sin to steal issued kit from ones peers  .  While we are to some extent a reflection of society and thus do have some bad apples in our ranks, Theives should & must be routed out and have thier asses kicked severly  . In my experience, there are many ways to to deal with these types (informally), however, I personally always preferred to see them delt with formally, in the venue of an orders parade.

Thievery from ones peers, is a charge that generally is delt with quite severly. While one eventually recovers from most transgressions, this omission is pretty hard to recover ones dignity and respect from.

In my younger days, it was respectable to have liberated kit form the system, so that when Johnny Young Private lost his mukoluks, or had them stolen, "the boys" could reach into the ole battle box and replace them before the Sgt's Major caught wind of it.


....cheers..... Evocatus.

 

[dutchie]

I have never had any kit stolen (touch wood). I follow these rules given to me (not all at once) by my Section Commanders on basic:

1. Keep your kit secure and keep an eye on it. If you can lock it up, do it.
2. The messier your kit is, the easier it is to steal. Another good reason to keep the kit explosions to an absolute minimum.
3. Mark/label all your kit with your name and last three numbers of your SN.
4. Don't take unnecesary kit into the field. The less kit you have, the less likely you are to have it stolen.
5. Limit the amount of 'Gucci Kit' you own. Shiny things grow legs really quickly.
6. Report theft of kit only when you are sure it has actually been stolen. Check with section/platoon mates and your brain first. Your a big blade if you put your platoon through a kit search because you left your Gerber at the chow hall. Once you know it has been stolen, report it to your Chain immediately.


I find that courses are the worst for theft. Once you get to your unit, you shouldn't have any trouble at all.

 

[gun plumber]

I've only had a little bit of  kit swiped in my carrer and it all boils down to one thing....
Was it my fault? Yes. I did'nt do enough to prevent the theft,ergo I'm responsable for it.
Suck it up,take the pay deduction and make sure it does'nt happened again. Learn from your mistakes and carry on.

 

[meni0n]

Only had one thing stolen. It was a strange story. Arrive to basic (In shilo it was comm res ), was with french platoon on first day, they do kit inspection till 2am and take anything sharp from everyone which includes gerbers. Next day I got transfered to the english platoon and you know how it is first 3 weeks you're busy and I didn't really need it and I thought hey they took it so it's in a safe place. BMQ finishes and SQ starts I ask my section ic to ask the french instructors for my gerber back. Well apperantely they put the box with the gerbers into the room where they kept all of the platoon's civvie bags and clothes. They told they distributed the gerbers back and needles to say my gerber wasn't there. Lost report was supposed to come from shilo to unit but never did so I just bought a new gerber. And the morale of the story is, is that I hate the french platoon  ;D

 

[wang]

Moderator edit: Wang I'll be in touch.

 

[chrisf]

I've been missing a pair of combat pants for a while now, and I'm thinking they were stolen by my father, who's own combat pants are far to large for him, so he often borrows mine. Come to think of it, I really ought to ask for them back.

Other then that, I've never had anything stolen. Or lost for that matter. Why not? I take care of my kit.

If I loan it to somone, unless I trust them quite well, I always make sure the kit is returned to me as soon as possible.

If I leave a room, I lock the room. If I have roomates, I lock my locker.

Very importantly, I also make sure I *know* what I have, and how much I have.

 

[atticus]

The only problem I've ever had with theft is on course. In the reserves, gerbers seems to grow legs much more than anything else (since on my course only about 2 out of five had gerbers issued). Acually to think of it the only thing that I have ever heard of being out right stolen while in the reserves is gerbers. Anything else stolen was either civvie stuff or that it was taken by mistake.

 

[Gryphon]

Yeah, i had pretty much the same problem as meni0n.. 'cept i eventually got it back because the pl sgt and I are from the same unit

otherwise, the worst that i've had so far is mix ups of shirts or socks in the laundry (on my 5s we were 2 to a room and we'd do laundry together at times)

In the field, nothing really has been stolen, but i've had "Reallocation of Kit" from the QM (nothing major tho, KFS, FMP pads.. small, write offable kit) and this was usually when I was on support, and the QM came back with more stuff than it started off with...

 

[Pikache]

Caesar's advice is sound, though even in unit, you have bad apples. (Though they do get find out eventually and get sorted out)

I hate thieves and liars. How the heck are you suppose to go to battle with someone you cannot put your trust with?

 

[Griswald DME]

You should be engraving your gerbers.  If your unit doesn't have an engraver head to your local police station, most lend out engravers for free.

 

[atticus]

You should be engraving your gerbers.   If your unit doesn't have an engraver head to your local police station, most lend out engravers for free.

Really? I didn't know we were allowed to do that! Wouldn't you have to pay for the gerber if you did that?

 

[bossi]

Yup - I've had things stolen from me on civvy street, too - not just in the Army.  Poop happens, and then you have to buy a new pair of goalie pads ... and be more careful.

Trying to find a silver lining ... I figure the guy who stole my lightweight binoculars on my Combat Team Commander's Course figured they were a good piece of kit, so it was flattering that he stole mine and not a pair of "issue" bino's.

It brings up a good point:  If you use equipment issued to you by the Army, it can be replaced by the Army when it's lost.  However, when you use anything you purchased yourself, you're on your own if you lose it (a slight logistical problem when you're several thousand miles away from the place you bought it ...).  Food for thought.

 

[gorf]

Cool......well not really. I guess I will just keep my privately obtained kit at home (well the more expensive stuff anyway), that way I don't lose to much money. It is really to bad things are this way....but then I guess things would get to easy ;D Anyway....I will be sure to report it if anyone takes anything    :threat:   BTW I still have one more test (Physical test push-ups etc.) before I get in, but I am really looking forward to my new job/life   :warstory:.