DEFENCE CHIEF EYES U.S.-MADE UNIFORMS
Up to $500M to switch from Canadian-made
The Canadian military is looking for a new camouflage uniform for its 95,000 regular and reserve force members — potentially at a cost of as much as $500 million — and the boss favours one originally developed for the U.S. army.
In a seven-page briefing note on Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance’s recent visit to Halifax, Vance’s senior staff officers last month wrote, “The CDS stated his desire to replace” current uniforms with the new “MultiCam” pattern now being used by the force’s Special Operations Command.
Except for special forces, most Canadian soldiers now wear “CADPAT,” short for “Canadian Disruptive Pattern,” a Canadian-developed digital camouflage print that comes in several varieties, depending on the environment (desert, temperate, Arctic, etc.) and for which the Canadian government has a copyright and trademark.
The uniforms are manufactured by a number of Canadian companies.
MultiCam is a patented brand — made by Crye Precision of New York and until recently the main camouflage for most U.S. army units — and is also used as a generic term for a single-purpose camouflage that theoretically works in all environments.
According to the July 11 briefing note signed by Vance’s senior staff officer, Lt.Col. Geoffrey Mundy, and special adviser Col. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet and obtained by the National Post, Vance told personnel in Nova Scotia that the arid pattern CADPAT he saw on soldiers arriving in Mali (as part of Canada’s contribution to the United Nations stabilization force there) was so worn it will “likely have to be disposed of.”
Vance, the note said, wants to see the whole Canadian Forces adopt the special forces’ “MultiCam.”
In the meetings he had with groups of soldiers, aircrew and sailors in Nova Scotia, Vance apparently also outlined the Forces’ new policy on cannabis use.
“He explained to leadership the development of this policy had been an exercise in stripping bias,” the note said. “He pointed out that attempting to implement a blanket ban in the face of the new law (legalizing marijuana) would have been selfdefeating and harmful …”
While Vance “firmly stated he would not allow legalized cannabis to alter the professionalism” of the Forces, he also said that if permitted under provincial laws, messes on bases potentially could sell cannabis.
The plan for the uniforms, the note said, is that while the desert CADPAT — civilians would know it as the uniform Canadian soldiers wore during the 10-year mission to Afghanistan — would be tossed, temperate-climate CADPAT would be kept and issued to new soldiers during basic training. “They would transition to MultiCam” once they become operational.
It was just last fall that, as Postmedia’s David Pugliese first reported, Ottawa issued a notice to the industry that it was looking to buy more than 18,000 MultiCam uniforms over the next five years for the special forces.
According to the note, Vance promised improvements to soldiers’ kit, “in particular for gender-specific equipment,” and said he wanted to see more choice available, ideally using an online portal offering home delivery.
“He used boots as an example of an item that would be offered … in many different styles based on their preference …,” the note said.
The briefing note was more detailed than the formal response to questions the Post received this week from the Department of National Defence media office, though a spokeswoman confirmed the military is on the hunt for new uniforms.
Jessica Lamirande, senior communications adviser, noted in an email this week that CADPAT “has been in use since the early 2000s. After nearly two decades of continuous use, in multiple environmental conditions, it is an appropriate time to consider our future options for standard-issue operational uniforms.”
She confirmed that the Forces is “working with departmental gender analysts” to ensure protective equipment is designed for both women and men.
She also said “CADPAT and other patterns, including MultiCam, are among the options being considered”
DETAILS SUCH AS COST AND TIMELINE HAVE NOT YET BEEN DETERMINED.
for the 68,000 regular force members and 27,000 reservists, most of whom work part time and are considered citizen soldiers.
Lamirande said that because work is still in the early stages, “details such as cost and timeline have not yet been determined.”
But internally, within the Forces, insiders say the project has been given a deadline of a year to deliver the new clothing and that the cost estimate is as much as $500 million.
Critics say there is no rationale for the change, other than perhaps fashion. They point out that while CADPAT was extensively researched and field-tested, there has been no study of a new, single-purpose pattern and that militaries have long sought, in vain, for a pattern that will work equally well in green or temperate environments and desert conditions.