[edstorey]

Let's see; for the Army alone there are four styles of CADPAT TW Shirts and three styles of CADPAT Trousers in use. This compounds things as there are now two complete sets of rank, Hi-Vis slip-on for the older shirts and in Velcro patches for the latest version, plus small Canada flags for the old shirts and large flags for the new one.

On top of this there is a complete range of Hi-Vis unit identifiers for the slip-ons, but only CANADA for the Velcro rank patches.

I have no idea what the situation is like for CADPAT AR, but the last I heard the old Officer CF ranks were going to be maintained for this uniform and they would not be manufactured in Hi-Vis. Somehow I doubt this insignia has not been also been changed, but I cannot confirm it.

All of the Army Officers got new DEU Jackets (I wish I knew the cost per jacket) because of the rank change and then since the supply system could not handle the volume of alterations and sewing, they were allotted money to go out and have the work done on the commercial market (again I am not sure how much per person). Now the senior Officers get their jackets modified again to add the braid that was removed less than a year ago and to compound things a new design of star (pip) is being introduced.

Previous to this a new set of Division, Corps and Army coloured insignia was introduced for wear in the DEU uniform and apparently now on CADPAT TW - all for any Army that is smaller than a division.

Remember these insignia changes only relate to the Army.

As I said before, who needs major equipment purchases, medical care for injured soldiers or adequate training budgets when numerous insignia changes justified under historical awareness and anniversaries seems to be the priority.