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New Dress Regs 🤣

My experience is that the CAF tends to not understand the reason for that - and candidates are often encourage to damage weapons unwittingly to get them "Inspection clean" - simply because very few of the staff even understand that either.
Fully agreed with the overcleaning. A colleague of mine stated we over cleaned the FNs. And we did. Nothing to do? Draw weapons and clean them!!
Operational cleaning and inspection cleaning should be the same.
 
Fully agreed with the overcleaning. A colleague of mine stated we over cleaned the FNs. And we did. Nothing to do? Draw weapons and clean them!!
Operational cleaning and inspection cleaning should be the same.
Three guys in my squad in basic had the bright idea of putting the gas effected parts of their FNs in a garbage bag and hosing them down with oven cleaner and letting them sit for a few hours after the week in Granville. It did not end well for them. Or the rifle parts.
 
Fully agreed with the overcleaning. A colleague of mine stated we over cleaned the FNs. And we did. Nothing to do? Draw weapons and clean them!!
Operational cleaning and inspection cleaning should be the same.
Simple Green, Fast Orange etc - not for weapons, while sure it cleans the carbon out - it does a nasty number to the Anodizing and causes galvanic corrosion in aluminum.
 
The fact that some put any importance to looks to judge people’s ability to do their work effectively is concerning.

Simple google search says that 55% of your first impression of a person are visual. I look for competence AND how someone presents themselves be it physically or through personal appearance (it has nothing to do with PER scoring or the like). Through my experience those two usually go together naturally, people who have their ducks in a row usually look the part. I know if I ever walk into a job interview in the real world, I won't be utilizing the new military standard of appearance, I have a little more self-respect than green hair, long nails and face piercings. If I want to dress up like a clown, I'll be doing it on my own time.
 
Another point: too many officers and NCOs thought kit inspections were a good way to yell and scream and charge people over silly errors. Lines on socks didn’t match! Charge that soldier!!!
I will never forget when the illustrious BGen Cox infected my bugout gear and when looking for mismatched socks found a solo sock -- and didn't understand my comment as to why it was solo - "it is the one I use" while he's got it in his hands and CSM Cromwell started chuckling uncontrollable...
 
I see competence in the way their kit is set up and they move. When everything is falling apart I don’t look for shiny boots. So if we can’t train people to be effective that’s a different issue than looking like they have their ducks in a row.

But I’m dog water so that’s enough of me saying the same stuff over and over.
 
My experience is that the CAF tends to not understand the reason for that - and candidates are often encourage to damage weapons unwittingly to get them "Inspection clean" - simply because very few of the staff even understand that either.
It's almost as if people misunderstand the purpose of inspections in general 😁.

The main point of inspections is to ensure serviceability of equipment, looks have nothing to do with it.

It's also to ensure that soldiers are following orders 😉

e.g. If ordered to bring 72hrs of water and rations, you must have 72hrs of water and rations.

People get complacent at times, no matter who they are and inspections are just a tool to stave off complacency.

Level of detail and thoroughness of inspections is dependent on who the individuals are:

Brand new recruits = full inspection
Seasoned professionals = buddy checks are probably sufficient

Inspections shouldn't just happen before an operation either. Post-op inspections are often more important to ensure fighting element can be redeployed rapidly.
 
Inspect what you expect.

Seasoned professionals should still do inspections. Even guys with hundreds of parachute jumps get a full inspection from the JM - it curbs the realities of human nature.
 
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Simple google search says that 55% of your first impression of a person are visual. I look for competence AND how someone presents themselves be it physically or through personal appearance (it has nothing to do with PER scoring or the like). Through my experience those two usually go together naturally, people who have their ducks in a row usually look the part. I know if I ever walk into a job interview in the real world, I won't be utilizing the new military standard of appearance, I have a little more self-respect than green hair, long nails and face piercings. If I want to dress up like a clown, I'll be doing it on my own time.
This person’s style really hindered his success…. If we keep marginalizing style over substance, style will keep playing a big role in perception.

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While appearance shouldn’t matter, I think history shows it does. If your unit looks like a bag of crap, people will see it and think “that unit is a bag of crap”. Who wants to be part of the Crap Bag Regiment? Further, in the “fake it till you make it department”, looking in the mirror like a badass trained killer in Her Majesty’s service, may make you more inclined to do the work/change the attitude necessary to actually make it true. I may not be James Bond in my tux, but damned if I’m not going to try to be suave, cultured and debonair while I’m looking that good.

Note the weasel words: “may”. There are still plenty of people who lie to themselves and think if they wear the same clothes as their heroes that they become their heroes. “Look at me: I’m Rambo!”. This isn’t true either.

In sum, looking the part isn’t a negligible component, but it isn’t everything either.
I really think people are being quite unreasonable with their assessment of the proposed changes.

A unit which includes men who are wearing ponytails or have long bears is not inherently a unit which "looks like a bag of crap".

A unit which includes people who have hair that is dyed teal or orange or purple is not inherently a unit which "looks like a bag of crap".

A unit which includes people who have multiple ear rings or occasionally wear mirrored sunglasses or photochromic lenses or paint their nails is not inherently a unit which "looks like a bag of crap".

A unit which looks like a bag of crap will be a unit where people are slovenly, unkempt, and unfit. Hair and nails etc? That's not what does it. Just because someone does not adhere to our current standards which are based upon a set of rigid notions from the early 1900s about what a military member "should" look like, doesn't mean that notion is at all accurate or reasonable.

And then, once we stop caring about things like "is your hair touching your ears", maybe we can start focusing our efforts on the things that actually matter.
 
I really think people are being quite unreasonable with their assessment of the proposed changes.

A unit which includes men who are wearing ponytails or have long bears is not inherently a unit which "looks like a bag of crap".

A unit which includes people who have hair that is dyed teal or orange or purple is not inherently a unit which "looks like a bag of crap".

A unit which includes people who have multiple ear rings or occasionally wear mirrored sunglasses or photochromic lenses or paint their nails is not inherently a unit which "looks like a bag of crap".

A unit which looks like a bag of crap will be a unit where people are slovenly, unkempt, and unfit. Hair and nails etc? That's not what does it. Just because someone does not adhere to our current standards which are based upon a set of rigid notions from the early 1900s about what a military member "should" look like, doesn't mean that notion is at all accurate or reasonable.

And then, once we stop caring about things like "is your hair touching your ears", maybe we can start focusing our efforts on the things that actually matter.
Overall impression at my unit is meh. Enforce the rules that are layed out as per direction. Nothing is personally directed at anyone so go with it. I expect a few weeks of a few individuals testing the waters. Probably to see if they can get a reaction. Then a balance and state of normalcy as people figure out what works best for them. Some crap is hard to maintain. And I bet in the field even harder so people will normally go with what is easier.
 
I really think people are being quite unreasonable with their assessment of the proposed changes.

A unit which includes men who are wearing ponytails or have long bears is not inherently a unit which "looks like a bag of crap".

A unit which includes people who have hair that is dyed teal or orange or purple is not inherently a unit which "looks like a bag of crap".

A unit which includes people who have multiple ear rings or occasionally wear mirrored sunglasses or photochromic lenses or paint their nails is not inherently a unit which "looks like a bag of crap".

A unit which looks like a bag of crap will be a unit where people are slovenly, unkempt, and unfit. Hair and nails etc? That's not what does it. Just because someone does not adhere to our current standards which are based upon a set of rigid notions from the early 1900s about what a military member "should" look like, doesn't mean that notion is at all accurate or reasonable.

And then, once we stop caring about things like "is your hair touching your ears", maybe we can start focusing our efforts on the things that actually matter.
I mean a substantial portion of the CAF is already unfit so situation no change 😄
 
In fairness- the RCMP changed the regs similar to these with man buns etc.

I’ve seen one in the wild.
I'm looking forward to the rehash of the 1993 documentary "Under Arrest"

Can't wait to see some good ole Federales, newly armed with battle mullets, duke it out against Canada's finest trash 😁. Will make for great 🍿

Ignore the title, drunken idiot needs a good ole fashioned GBA+ beatdown!

 
In fairness- the RCMP changed the regs similar to these with man buns etc.

I’ve seen one in the wild.
The concept of being against a man-bun is somewhat amusing to me, since I really do feel like for the military, like 90% of the time you'd end up seeing a man wearing a bun would be in a situation where he doesn't actually want to wear a bun, but the dress regulations regarding the wear of long hair would force him into it. Obviously the old PONYTAILFORGEN would have fixed some of those problems, but it still had a length limit (not past your armpits), and still required buns in ... I think 1As? Anything with a tunic? Something along those lines.

The slide deck posted wasn't clear if the new rules would be eliminating the limits on lengths of ponytails or braids, and/or allowing their usages in the more formal orders of dress.

But anyways, if you want to see fewer manbuns, get rid of the regulations forcing people to wear buns. This may or may not be included in the upcoming set of changes.
 
Three guys in my squad in basic had the bright idea of putting the gas effected parts of their FNs in a garbage bag and hosing them down with oven cleaner and letting them sit for a few hours after the week in Granville. It did not end well for them. Or the rifle parts.
It's amazing how effective hot water can be to clean the C7's, as long as you CLP them afterwards.
 
It's amazing how effective hot water can be to clean the C7's, as long as you CLP them afterwards.
After every three day field ex on BOTC in 1988, which was always rainy, dis-assembled the FN, stuck the parts in a garbage bag, and sprayed with WD-30. Took the rust and mildew right off.
 
It is quite amazing how the parallel lines of the pattern on the trews emphasize the non parallel lines of those who wear trews.

Encourage them to wear sweaters; takes the eye off the trews.
 
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