Wearing Uniform in Public (merged)

[Da_man]

I dont see anything wrong with wearing combat boots and rucksack for personal training.. anyone have an "official" word on this?

 

[bossdog]

As long as members act professionally and courteously in uniform, then why not.

...except on Remembrance Day...AaRgH!

 

[my72jeep]

Should go back to the old days where you were required to wear your DEUs to and from work and had to have a chit to wear PT strip if you wanted to jog to and from work.  I don't know what happen to wearing your uniform when flying on duty but that should be brought back too.  Should never be ashamed to wear your uniform in public and you should take every opportunity to do it and you should never disgrace yourself and the CF while wearing it.

I know personally were were Descuraged from wearing any uniform on civicircraft or buses post 9-11 but that has been changed now I believe.

 

[1feral1]

Mate, why wrinkle your CF's on a civvy flight when you can wear civvies? I wear my unifrom to work on Tues and Thurs because I am living on base in theSGTs Mess. Once we move into our new place off base, I will be in civvies (PT gear) coming and going. Mon-Wed-Fri are sports/PT parades, so I come in PT gear those times.

I am very proud of my service here and in Canada (I don't need to advertise it), but I see no reason aside of an authorised parade (11 Nov and 25 Apr etc) to be in unifrom outside normal working hours, unless its a brief stop coming to work or leaving work for petrol, groceries, or ATM etc. Definatly no pubs or clubs. Thats what Messes are for.

As for wearing cbt boots for PT after hours, you'll pay later in life. Here they can be worn, but in runs under 2km only. As for 'rucking up' and going for a helll run, I see no problem with that (you'll pay later for that too - there is better ways to train), but I would be wearing some good Xtrainers, not those horrid black heavy CF combat boots! I don't miss those things for a minute!

Cheers,

Wes

 

[pbi]

Haha, I was doing exactly that (hiking with civvie shorts/t-shirt, combat boots and rucksack) while preparing for BMQ and some guy pulled over on the side of the road and gave me crap, asked for my name/rank/svc # and unit, and said he was going to report me    Never heard anything more about it though.

This person was IMHO an idiot with nothing better to do. PT with boots and rucksack with PT kit is very common throughout the Army: I've done it lots of times.

Cheers

 

[childs56]

my understanding out of the dress regs is that as long as the kit does not specificlay idnetify you as a member of the CF then it is alright to wear it. Ie wearing of any rank or insignia is forbidden, while weaing a pair of cbt pants and boots is ok. Myabe the rules have changed. I am a person who will wear the pants out camping/ fishing. they are comfortable and such. As for wearing something that is better for you. Well i have to say one thing, should we wear running shoes while training, or should we wear the clothes we wear to war while training. I understand the whole make yourself more comfortable but the bottom line is i have seen guys who can run like the dickens in a pair of running shorts and shoes, throw some webbing and a rifle on them and say go, due to the fact they are not use to wearing the kit they tend to struggle. remeber any fool can be be uncomfortable, make your kit fit you and things will be allright. 

 

[Da_man]

I dont think you can wear cbt pants for camping...  There was a story on these boards a while ago about some private who had shotgun shells in his parka or something because he went hunting with it, and the RSM wasnt pleased at all

 

[George Wallace]

CTD

You don't have to wear rank or unit flashes on a uniform to be easily recognizable as a Soldier.  If you want to look unprofessional and like a welfare case feel free to do so, but don't actively show disrespect for the uniform if you are a soldier.  How often have you seen "Shit Pits" in uniform; who no matter what could never look good in a uniform?  What was your impression?  Now think of what impression your wearing parts of your issue uniform to go camping, or to the lake, or mowing the lawn, gives to other members of the Profession?

GW

 

[NCRCrow]

Mixed Dress is not allowed and looks stupid anyway. To me it shows disrespect for your uniform and makes u look like a loser.

We just got a PAY RAISE....................go to MEC and buy some real stuff.

What a lame THREAD!!!

Go and give your boots some polish or something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[johnny_boy]

Not to derail, but we got a payraise? What, who, when, where, how much?!

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Search for it   :

Not to derail, but we got a payraise? What, who, when, where, how much?!

Search for it  : and don't change the topic.

 

[pbi]

My impression was that Feral was doing PT on his own. To me that is an OK time to wear the boots with civvie PT dress. However, I agree fully that beyond that, wearing bits and pieces of combat clothing looks ridiculous.

Cheers.

 

[c_canuk]

I don't understand why we are discouraged from wearing our uniforms in public... you should have pride in your uniform. Personally I think anyone who thinks otherwise should get the hell out.

now if someone gets stupid in uniform, they are subject to the exact same code of conduct as they are in civvies... so just make it known (already done) that acting out in uniform while in public is not tolerated and will be dealt with... I suppose though that it's harder to police those in uniform than to just ban wearing uniforms in public, however this removes us from the public eye which is a very very bad thing

When the public is not used to our presence, they don't trust us, they only know what they see on the news, so when we do see us it's a big deal and we are under a lot of scrutiny.

With Urban exercises increasing in frequency we need the Civvies to know exactly what to expect of us, we recently had a patroll in an outlying town harassed by some man who thought they were putting the town under military control, not merely doing an exercise... People fear what they don't know, the Canadian military needs the people we protect to know us, and know what we do and how we do it, and why. It sounds really stupid, but if you've never seen military personnel and all of a sudden there is a section patrolling down your street with full battle gear, what are you to think? They don't see us as people, they see us as cogs in a war machine... perhaps being seen in familiar settings in uniform can help alleviate this, and make us seem more approachable and more human.

right now we are out of sight and out of mind as budgets have shown and when we are in sight it's a shock and can cause panic.

 

[big_johnson1]

My impression was that Feral was doing PT on his own. To me that is an OK time to wear the boots with civvie PT dress. However, I agree fully that beyond that, wearing bits and pieces of combat clothing looks ridiculous.

Cheers.

You got it pbi, that's exactly what I was doing. It was actually recommended to me by the recruiting center to get ready for basic.. Partially to break the boots in, and partially to break my back into the rucksack. I'm glad I did it as I was one of the few guys on course who didn't get any blisters and I was used to wearing the ruck already so those first few marches weren't such a shock to the body. And when I was training for the mountain man I was running with the rucksack almost every day (no boots though, I'm not that nuts).. Got more than a few strange looks and had to explain to some of the older fella's on the trails that I was Air Force not Army   but other than that I never had a problem with it again.

And I'm guilty of wearing my fleece with my civvies sometimes when I'm doing work around the house and it's cool outside, but I agree, mixing combat pants and civvies or the combat shirt with civvies looks stupid and doesn't represent the forces well. I especially hate it when kids wander around with the OD combats with rank and epaulets still on. I see that fairly often at UVic

 

[George Wallace]

Feral

Don't you just love those type; the ones who run around wearing parts of the uniform, and then protest against anything resembling authority?

c-canuk

You have touched on something that I think there is no solution - stupidity.  Some people are too thick to realize that there is an Armed Force to protect them and that that Armed Force needs to train.  I remember an incident a few years back when our Sig O when off on a Recce while on Exercise.  He went in a Coyote to Recce routes for a Nav Ex and stopped in one of Ottawa's outlying 'villages'.  He and his gunner dismounted and walked around town and when they returned to their vehicle they were surrounded by three police cars, one OPP and two City of Ottawa, and a couple of the officers had their hands on their guns.  I don't know what was going through their minds, with three guys dressed in Cadpat, carrying automatic weapons, next to a great big green eight wheeled vehicle with a 25 mm Chaingun?  We had quite a few laughs for the next few days when we rehashed the story they told on their return.  Needless to say, some of Canada's Police officers don't even know the first thing about the military, even if they work in close proximity to a large Defence Establishment (ie. NDHQ in Ottawa's case.).

 

[big_johnson1]

GW

It's even better to see someone protesting our government while wearing the old "I am Canadian" t-shirt. I don't get that one.

 

[George Wallace]

It has got to be the beer.....

 

[big bad john]

You have touched on something that I think there is no solution - stupidity.   Some people are too thick to realize that there is an Armed Force to protect them and that that Armed Force needs to train.   I remember an incident a few years back when our Sig O when off on a Recce while on Exercise.   He went in a Coyote to Recce routes for a Nav Ex and stopped in one of Ottawa's outlying 'villages'.   He and his gunner dismounted and walked around town and when they returned to their vehicle they were surrounded by three police cars, one OPP and two City of Ottawa, and a couple of the officers had their hands on their guns.   I don't know what was going through their minds, with three guys dressed in Cadpat, carrying automatic weapons, next to a great big green eight wheeled vehicle with a 25 mm Chaingun?   We had quite a few laughs for the next few days when we rehashed the story they told on their return.   Needless to say, some of Canada's Police officers don't even know the first thing about the military, even if they work in close proximity to a large Defence Establishment (ie. NDHQ in Ottawa's case.).

In the UK, we used to get "surrounded" by the Police and old Marines.  All they wanted to do was 1) See the 'new' kit
                                                                                                                                        2) "help"
                                                                                                                                        3) Buy us BEER!

 

[Thompson_JM]

You have touched on something that I think there is no solution - stupidity.   Some people are too thick to realize that there is an Armed Force to protect them and that that Armed Force needs to train.   I remember an incident a few years back when our Sig O when off on a Recce while on Exercise.   He went in a Coyote to Recce routes for a Nav Ex and stopped in one of Ottawa's outlying 'villages'.   He and his gunner dismounted and walked around town and when they returned to their vehicle they were surrounded by three police cars, one OPP and two City of Ottawa, and a couple of the officers had their hands on their guns.   I don't know what was going through their minds, with three guys dressed in Cadpat, carrying automatic weapons, next to a great big green eight wheeled vehicle with a 25 mm Chaingun?   We had quite a few laughs for the next few days when we rehashed the story they told on their return.   Needless to say, some of Canada's Police officers don't even know the first thing about the military, even if they work in close proximity to a large Defence Establishment (ie. NDHQ in Ottawa's case.).

One of our Regforce UTA's was pulled over in oakville by Halton Regional Police and asked what the heck a "Canada" Plate was (referring of course to the CFR. thankfully he was in uniform so it made it a little easier to explain to her, but even still, its true that the education most police get about the army is nil. (Note: it was a commercial 8pax van that was stopped. would have been more comical had it been a MILCOT or LSVW etc..)

 

[pbi]

I don't understand why we are discouraged from wearing our uniforms in public... you should have pride in your uniform. Personally I think anyone who thinks otherwise should get the hell out.

I didn't know we were discouraged from this. We are discouraged from wearing it stupidly or incorrectly, or in a situation that will do discredit to HMCF, but other than that, I have never felt that the Army discouraged me from wearing my uniform in public. I think it is rather that there are some of us who do not feel comfortable doing it.

Needless to say, some of Canada's Police officers don't even know the first thing about the military, even if they work in close proximity to a large Defence Establishment (ie. NDHQ in Ottawa's case.).

This is very true: apart from their uniforms and rank badges, there really isn't anything very military about our protective services anymore, nor are they well informed about the military, and I definitely include the RCMP in this. I am reminded of an incident during the Southern Ontario Snowstorm, during which we (LFCA) deployed a troop of Bisons into the downtown core fire halls of the City of Toronto. The Chief of the TFD was visiting one of the halls where the Bisons were quartered, and commented that "I have never seen a military vehicle before". Now, consider that this was the Chief of the country's largest fire service, who must have been in the service for 25-30 years, and in his duties had travelled all over the city. In Toronto there are three armouries, two of them downtown.

In my Dom Ops dealings wth the police and fire services over the years, I have found a severe lack of any useful or correct knowledge of the military. A few years ago we started bringing their senior officers to Army Staff College to attend the module on Dom Ops: IMHO they need it.

Cheers