New special forces uniform a throwback to Second World War
DAVID PUGLIESE
The top soldiers of Canada’s special forces have been issued new uniforms that hearken back to those worn by the famed Devil’s Brigade of the Second World War.
The new duds, officially called the Distinctive Environmental Uniform or DEU, are part of a wider effort to assign unique dress to special forces and visibly identify the command’s “distinct nature” within the military, Maj. Alex Cadieux, a spokesman for the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, noted in an e-mail.
“The distinct uniform serves to identity Canadian Special Operations Forces Command as the fourth Canadian Armed Forces environment and strengthen organizational morale and cohesion across CANSOFCOM,” Cadieux said.
The uniforms will be issued to those who are considered “operators” within the command, meaning they have done unique special forces training and can take on front-line roles.
The uniforms would be worn at events such as ceremonial and routine parades, Remembrance Day, and for guards of honour.
The DEU uses existing Canadian military design patterns but has the same color scheme as those uniforms worn during the Second World War by the joint U.S.Canadian First Special Service Force. That unit has been dubbed the Devil’s Brigade, and Canadian special forces say they trace their lineage back to those 1940s-era soldiers. First Special Service Forcestyle boots are also being worn by Canadian special forces.
The special forces command had planned to introduce the new uniforms publicly by having staff wear them at Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa on Nov. 11. But the first display turned out to be a Sept. 27 farewell parade in Ottawa for Gov. Gen. David Johnston.
Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, or CANSOFCOM, oversees Joint Task Force 2; a counterterrorism and special operations unit in Ottawa; the 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron and the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, both in Petawawa, Ont., and the Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit, a Trenton, Ont.based organization that deals with weapons of mass destruction.
The new dress uniforms do identify special forces operators, including those from JTF2. But the special forces command is not overly concerned from a security perspective, since the uniforms will be only worn on limited occasions and most times in controlled military settings, sources say.
Second World War-style uniforms seem to be making a comeback in some circles. The U.S. Army is also examining issuing personnel dress uniforms similar to those of the 1940s.
Prototypes of the uniforms made their debut at an army equipment trade show in Washington last week, the Army Times newspaper in the U.S. reported.
All CANSOFCOM personnel, including support staff, will also be issued with another uniform for day-to-day use. The federal government recently issued a notice to industry that it was looking to buy over a five-year period more than 18,000 “multicam” uniforms. They have a distinct camouflage pattern originally developed for the U.S. Army.
A request also went out for multicam flight suits for special forces tactical helicopter crews.
Each DEU uniform costs $1,400, but overall costs for the purchase of multicam uniforms was not released.
Canada’s special forces emerged as a big winner in the Liberal defence policy released earlier this year.
The ranks of the Ottawa-based special forces organization will be boosted by 605 personnel, and $1.5 billion will be spent on new equipment ranging from surveillance aircraft to boats.
There are around 1,900 personnel in special forces. That would increase to 2,500 over the coming years. The $1.5 billion for equipment would be spent over the next two decades.
The Liberal defence policy signalled the desire to make more use of special forces and have them integrate further into the U.S.led global network of clandestine troops.