Canadian Forces: Encyclopedia II - Canadian Forces - Uniforms

Canadian Forces - Uniforms

Although each element (land, sea, and air) wears distinctive uniforms, the CF as a whole has been reduced to two orders of dress: No. 3 Service Dress and No. 5 Operational Dress. No. 4 Base Dress (Garrison Dress in the Army) was eliminated to reduce the number of uniforms members had to ship or pack when going on postings or taskings; either Operational Dress or Service Dress is substituted as appropriate to the situation. No. 1 Ceremonial and No. 2 Mess Dress are normally not provided out of public funds. Generally speaking, Operational Dress is now the daily duty uniform across the CF unless Service Dress is prescribed (such as at National Defence Headquarters, on parades, at public events, etc); for occasions of greater formality or dignity, Service Dress can be modified to suit the occasion.

Canadian Forces - Service Dress

For all elements, Service Dress consists of a tunic with rank insignia, accoutrements, ribbons, brass buttons with regimental or branch insignia, etc; uniform trousers with belt; long-sleeved shirt and tie; ankle boots or shoes; and appropriate headgear with branch or regimental device. Environmental distinctions are as follows.

• Army. Rifle-green tunic, trousers, service cap (officers only), beret (except as notedbelow: see Beret), tie, belt, and slip-ons. Linden green shirt.

• Air Force. Postman blue tunic, trousers, service cap (officers only), wedge cap or beret (universal), and slip-ons. Black necktie and belt. Light blue shirt.

• Navy. Black ("navy blue") tunic, trousers, tie, belt, and slip-ons. White-topped service cap (universal). White shirt.

• Rank Insignia is worn on the upper arms of the tunic for all ranks up to Sgt/PO2; on the forearms for all ranks from WO/PO1 to CWO/CPO2; and on the cuffs of all officers. Rank insignia is also worn on all slip-ons worn by Navy and Air Force personnel, but only by Army officers; Army NCMs wear miniature metal rank insignia on the shirt collar and plain epaulets.

• Undress ribbons are worn over the left breast pocket of the tunic; qualification badges (such as a paratrooper's "wings" or submariner's "dolphins") are worn above the top row of ribbons. Command badges (worn by Army personnel, or by non-Army personnel in Army units or formations as ordered) are worn centred on the pleat of the right breast pocket.

• Collar badges. Army personnel also wear collar badges (usually a miniature regimental or branch device but sometimes a separate pattern, depending on unit) on the lapels of the tunic. These badges are known colloquially as "collar dogs".

• Shoulder badges. Brass regimental or branch shoulder titles are worn on the shoulder straps of the DEU/ceremonial dress. By regulation, only numerals and letters may be worn on these titles, the only exception being the Calgary Highlanders and Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) who wear a special badge in the shape of an oak leaf, as a commemorative of the Battle of Kitcheners' Wood (22 April 1915).

• The National Identifier is the word "CANADA" in an arc, in gold thread on the environmental background, worn on the upper sleeve near the shoulder seam. This is universal, except for Air Force NCMs, whose device also includes a gold eagle in flight. Slip-ons bear the title "CANADA", except for the Army, which may wear approved regimental or branch titles.

For less formal occasions, or when dictated by weather or other concerns, the uniform can be modified as follows:

• removal of tunic, substitution of short-sleeve shirt (same colour), worn open-necked, with ribbons and qualification wings over the left breast pocket and name tag over right breast pocket
• replacement of tunic with V-neck sweater (same colour as tunic) with shoulder straps; slip-ons as per shirt; short- or long- sleeved shirt (open-necked or with tie); shirt otherwise as normal

There also exists Ceremonial Dress (e.g., the scarlet tunics and bearskin caps of the Canadian Grenadier Guards), worn on formal and solemn parades and ceremonies, such as change of command parades, remembrance ceremonies, royal ceremonies, etc.; and Mess Dress, or Mess Kit (e.g. dinner jackets, waistcoats or cummerbunds, box spurs, etc), for formal or ceremonial dinners (such as mess dinners). These uniforms generally conform to the traditions of a particular regiment or branch; they are not universally worn, however, as they are generally not provided at public expense. For these occasions, some minor additions or modifications are made to the Service Dress uniform:

• Ceremonial Dress. Replace undress ribbons with full medals. Add white web belts, gloves, bayonet frogs and rifle slings, pistol holsters, etc (for NCMs) or black Sam Brown belts with swords and scabbards (for officers).
• Mess Dress. Replace undress ribbons with full medals. Replace shirt and tie with white dress shirt and black bow tie (males) or an approved Mess Dress blouse with gold buttons (females).

Canadian Forces - Operational Dress

Army and Air Force. For daily wear in the Army and Air Force, this is the Temperate Weather (TW) Canadian Disruptive Pattern (CADPAT) uniform. It consists of a shirt, trousers, combat boots, beret (see below), and olive-drab (army) or dark blue (air force) crew-neck T-shirt. The uniform is well-fitted but comfortably loose, with numerous and voluminous pockets, and drawstrings to adjust the fit. The shirt is worn outside the trousers, and the trouser cuffs are bloused over the boots. The shirt has an epaulet for a slip-on in the centre of the chest; this slip-on bears the rank of the bearer and an appropriate national, branch, or regimental title embroidered on it. The name tag is attached via hook-and-eye fasteners, and bears the member's name, and environmental symbol (crossed swords for Army, eagle for Air Force). Embroidery thread for insignia etc is tan for Army and dark blue for the Air Force. The national identifier is the Flag of Canada, in full colour for garrison wear or in olive drab for operational wear.

During exercises and operations in the field, blue T-shirts are replaced with olive drab, and berets are replaced with more suitable (and camouflaged) headgear such as field hats helmets, balaclavas, etc. CADPAT is also available in an Arid Region (AR) pattern, for use in environments such as Iraq or Afghanistan. As well, for winter or arctic operations, there are camouflaged (i.e. white) accoutrements and coverings for clothes and equipment.

Note that not all personnel have received CADPAT equipment yet; some still wear the old-style olive drab combat uniform.

Navy. The Naval version of Operational Dress is the Naval Combat Dress (NCD). It consists of a black zip-up jacket, trousers, and beret; medium blue shirt; and boots. Dress slip-ons are worn on the jacket and shirt. Black ball caps with ship's name and designation have been approved for shipboard wear.

Canadian Forces - Berets

The beret is still the most widely worn headgear, and is worn with almost all orders of dress with the exception of the more formal orders of Naval and Air Force dress (i.e. Ceremonial, Mess, and Service Dress). The colour of the beret is determined by the wearer's environment, branch, or mission, as follows:

• All army — rifle green (except as noted below)
• Armoured — black
• Airborne — maroon
• Military police — red
• Navy — black
• Air force — postman blue
• Search-and-rescue technicians — orange
• Special Operations Regiment — tan
• United Nations missions — U.N. blue

Soldiers in Highland, Scottish and Irish regiments generally wear alternate headdress, including the glengarry, balmoral, tam o'shanter and caubeen instead of the beret. Approximately 1/3 of the Infantry Regiments in the Canadian Forces are designated Scottish, Highland or Irish.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Uniforms", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki