No 3 Service Dress – Field Clothing Introduction 0219. General. No 3 Service Dress covers all forms of field exercise clothing, including the Combat Soldier 95 (CS95) DPM and PCS-MTP range. Field exercise clothing is defined as clothing that is required to be worn for training and exercises. CS95 / PCS-MTP is not issued as part of the initial kitting scale for either male or female personnel except for those scaled in JSP 886
Lifted direct from AP1358C. Does anyone go by this?
DPM CS95 is running out and MTP is private purchase only. Not available from service stocks.
I spoke to the stores man from our local station and he told me that they are going to issue MTP to staff first and then cadets. He heard it from someone in HQAC
I doubt I’d be horrified, I’d probably be surprised at how little it was given the lifestyle the people running it need to maintain. TBH they’re wasting taxpayer’s money on at least a Group Captain’s salary and no doubt a cluster of minions. What could have done is cut 2FTS staff salaries by 25% a year until they’d sorted it out, which would have bucked a few ideas up.
The idea of issuing ‘DPM’ just presents another admin nightmare. Getting blue kit is difficult enough, so another set of kit could present another load of problems. I can’t remember the last time we had a demand for uniform filled OTIF, you always have to wait for something. Plus it seems that surplus shops have it by the skip, whereas supply seem to think it’s like unicorn eggs.
Problem is that supply can’t issue part worm, so you have tons of stuff which has been worn once by people who joined up and then left as it wasn’t for them, or was issued to people who only wear it for GDT once a year which gets sold to the Surplus markets. In my view the rules need changing so that we can have pet worn kit for our cadets.
It’s OK. There are certainly bits of CS95 that I preferred, and whoever invented the blanking plates should be velcroed to a rock somewhere in the desert but ultimately it does the job.
But why do we need Velcro? And why do we need a football pitch sized bit on our arms, that gets in the way of putting Bergans on, anyone with an Issue chest from stores can barely reach across to open it, no chance with a bergan. After any time in arduous conditions the Velcro degrades and is about as sticky as a a fridge magnet.
The pockets are turd. Stuff falls out, it acts as double insulation, and the Velcro is naff.
The stupid collar and stupid tank slide. And some Pongo’s thinking they are Gucci, ally, yanks cutting about with it untucked.
The leg pockets are gash. Smaller, terrible angle to get stuff out. Especially when kneeling or sitting.
And the stupid smock with the stupid felt lined pockets that get filled with water or snow, and you can’t put your hands in your pockets anyway.
Not to mention the cheap, nasty netting crap.
And the viritus stuff ain’t much better either. Except the helmet. The helmet is bang on.
I am sure the only reason it got issued is because an officer has shares in Velcro.
I have to admit, I can cope with the trousers. They’ve been a bit more hard wearing than my CS95.
But I wholeheartedly agree with your views of the shirts. Absolutely disgusting, I bin them off half the time and just wear the smock. Or wear the CS95 MTP shirts I have left over from the interim period.