Armed forces personnel in Ottawa region asked to return deployment gear to address shortfall

Canadian Armed Forces personnel in Ottawa’s national capital region have been asked to return equipment such as patrol packs and tactical vests “to replenish stock levels,” a Department of National Defence spokesperson told National Post on Thursday.

Personnel who are not involved in active deployment operations don’t need it “for their day-to-day duties,” wrote Nick Drescher Brown, a media relations officer with National Defence.

The move will “help address potential shortfalls of items, particularly of highly demanded sizes and will enable the Canadian Armed Forces to prioritize equipping personnel in deployable units,” said Brown.

The request was emailed out to “roughly 10,000 CAF members.”

Brown shared the email, entitled, “Return of equipment and clothing items” with National Post.

It says that to “address critical equipment shortages,” the Army is requesting personnel, including army, air force and navy, to return the following items: rucksacks (new model, CTS) with the sleeping bag compression bag and both utility pouches; patrol packs (small pack assembly) with the four utility pouches; tactical vests with the two additional pouches; and, fragmentation vests.

The items will be collected on May 19, 20 and 21 at a CAF clothing depot in Ottawa’s west end.

“All personnel not posted to a deployable unit are required to return the full set of equipment on the specified dates. Your cooperation is essential to the success of this effort,” the email states.

It also notes it is being sent on behalf of Colonel J.R. Toope, Commander of Canadian Forces Support Group (Ottawa-Gatineau) and Base Commander of Canadian Forces Base Ottawa-Gatineau.

This is not the first time such a request has been made. For example, back in 2018, an article in Canadian Military Family Magazine publicized a previous ask to military personnel. Brown says that request was similarly motivated.Then, as now , the CAF’s numbers were growing.

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