A civilian using non-genuine CADPAT for paintball.
Let's break this down into easy-to-manage chunks of information:
Civilians
1. If you are a civilian and are in the possession of genuine CADPAT apparel or gear that was legitimately acquired, you have no fear of legal or punitive action. Not being a member of the Canadian Forces means that you are not bound or subject to the Canadian Forces General Order (CANFORGEN), which means that you are free to possess and use your purchased CADPAT gear as you see fit, as long as your use of said gear doesn't contravene federal, provincial or municipal laws. Keep in mind we live in a country that (thankfully) operates on a relatively well enforced and adaptable legal system, so if you do something injurious (moral or otherwise) to the Canadian Forces, the government of Canada or its citizens, I'm sure something nasty will come of it.
2. If you are a civilian and are in possession of genuine CADPAT that was NOT legitimately acquired, you risk confiscation of said materials. Obviously something that was never meant to be sold and yet was still given to non-Forces personnel can be seen as stolen or misappropriated. If it is seen as stolen or otherwise not belonging to you, then obviously it can be taken away as well. Whether nor not you would face further punitive action would probably depend on your cognizance or lack thereof of the illegitimate nature of the materials in question. From the things I've seen online, people have had CADPAT gear that was given or sold to them (that shouldn't have been sold or given) taken back by the Canadian Forces. So long story short, buy from a trustworthy and reputable source, or buy replica CADPAT.
Note: There are some that would say that no genuine CADPAT has ever been legitimately surplussed by the Canadian Forces. Whether or not it's happened, the two above sections would still apply. Take it as a hypothetical if you will.
Paintball player wearing genuine issue CADPAT.
Canadian Forces Personnel
1. Canadian Forces General Order governing the appropriate treatment of genuine CADPAT materials (caps lock warning):
"UNAUTHORIZED DISPOSAL OF COMBAT UNIFORMS AND EQUIPMENT
CANFORGEN 120/02 DSSPM 0089 300845Z OCT 02
UNCLASSIFIED
REFS: A. CANADIAN FORCES SUPPLY MANUAL (CFSM) A-LM-007-014-AG-001 CHAPTER 3 SECTION 2 PARAGRAPH 2
B. CANADIAN FORCES SUPPLY MANUAL (CFSM) A-LM-007-014-AG-001 CHAPTER 28 ANNEX D APPENDIX 13
C. NATIONAL DEFENCE ACT (NDA) PART III CODE OF SERVICE DISCIPLINE SECTION 116
THE PURPOSE OF THIS MSG IS TO REMIND MEMBERS OF REGULATIONS WITH RESPECT TO ILLEGAL SALE OR DISPOSAL OF CROWN ASSETS.
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE CANADIAN DISRUPTIVE PATTERN (CADPAT) HAS RESULTED IN A BLACK MARKET DEMAND FOR CAMOUFLAGE ITEMS WHEREBY CADPAT CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT HAVE BECOME QUOTE HOT TICKET UNQUOTE COLLECTABLES.
REF A DEFINES COMBAT CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT AS A QUOTE PERSONAL ALLOTMENT UNQUOTE ACCOUNTED FOR ON AN INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT (IA) AND ARE RETAINED BY INDIVIDUALS AS LONG AS THEY CONTINUE TO MEET THE ENTITLEMENT PARAMETERS OF THE APPLICABLE ENTITLEMENT GROUP CODE (EGC). COMBAT CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT INCLUDING CADPAT ITEMS ARE CROWN ASSETS AND MUST RPT MUST BE SURRENDERED TO THE SUPPLY SYSTEM WHEN ENTITLEMENT NO LONGER EXISTS. SERVICEABLE CADPAT RPT CADPAT ITEMS WILL BE RETAINED AND RE-ISSUED WHILE ITEMS BEYOND ECONOMICAL REPAIR SHALL BE DESTROYED LOCALLY IAW REF B.
NOTWITHSTANDING THE PENALTIES ASSOCIATED WITH UNAUTHORIZED SALE OR DISPOSAL OF COMBAT CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT AS DETAILED AT REF C, PERSONNEL ARE ALSO REMINDED THAT THE INHERENT CAMOUFLAGE AND NEAR INFRA-RED (IR) CAPABILITY OF CADPAT MATERIAL OR OTHER ITEMS INCORPORATING STATE OF THE ART TECHNOLOGY FALLS UNDER FORCE PROTECTION. SUCH CAPABILITY IN THE WRONG OR ENEMY HANDS JEOPARDIZES THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF CANADIAN TROOPS. CADPAT PATTERNS AND TECHNICAL DATA ARE PATENT AND COPYRIGHT PROTECTED. ADDITIONALLY, THE DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE (DND) HAS ACQUIRED THE TRADEMARK FOR EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE CADPAT ACRONYM. MEMBERS ARE ADVISED THAT CADPAT COMBAT CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT IS STILL IN DELIVERY AND EVERY SET COUNTS.
THE DISPOSAL OF COMBAT UNIFORMS AND EQUIPMENT RESTS WITH DND AND NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WITH THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBER."
- I've sourced this from the postings of several CF members on forums etc., if any portion of the above CANFORGEN quotation is wrong, please drop a comment below and I'll fix it.
To summate, it's not appropriate to distribute genuine CADPAT materials you no longer wish to keep, and attempting to make a profit from sales of Crown property is obviously a big no-no.
2. Wearing issued CADPAT uniforms as a Canadian Forces member in a recreational environment is not quite cut and dry (although it certainly is for Reserve members). I'll quote from the Canadian Forces Dress Instructions:
"36. Regular Force. Unless otherwise directed, all ranks:
a. on duty shall wear the prescribed uniform;
and
b. when not on duty may wear civilian clothes.
...
38. Reserve Force. Members of the Reserve
Force shall not wear uniform except when:
a. on duty, or proceeding to or from their place
of duty;
b. attending a military function or ceremony at
which the wearing of uniform is appropriate;"
So, if you are a reservist, it's another no-no to wear your issued CADPAT gear outside of your place of duty (say when playing paintball or airsoft), and if you are no longer a serving reservist it's been established above that you are required to turn in your issued CADPAT gear. The regular force portion of the regulations isn't quite as clear, so if someone cares to chime in on that one that would be great.
Badges, insignias etc.
As a final note on this, I'm not taking into account anything concerning badges/berets/insignias etc., and will probably take a look at that in another article. So save your $0.02 on that matter for the appropriate article.
As always, please disseminate and share this as you see fit, but please use proper attribution and linking!
No comments:
Post a Comment