Topic: Dog Tags

[Technoviking]

In the CF, chaplains are either "Roman Catholic" (due to how many of us breeders there are) and "Protestant" (fairly equivalent to "other", which would include everything from Shinto to the multitude of Christian religions to, well, everything else).  Which denomination were you looking for?

[Strike]

TV -- Not sure if we currently have them but we do also have allowances for Muslim and Jewish clergy, who can be identified by the symbol on their cap badge.

[Technoviking]

TV -- Not sure if we currently have them but we do also have allowances for Muslim and Jewish clergy, who can be identified by the symbol on their cap badge.

You're right, we do, but I'm just talking about the "branches" (not the right term) of the Chaplain Branch.  And I think that there are three cap badges; one each for Christian chaplains, Muslim chaplains (Imams) and Jewish chaplains (Rabbis).

[Brihard]

You're right, we do, but I'm just talking about the "branches" (not the right term) of the Chaplain Branch.  And I think that there are three cap badges; one each for Christian chaplains, Muslim chaplains (Imams) and Jewish chaplains (Rabbis).

I have to wonder how many sets of ID discs CPgear has done up that say 'JEDI' on them?

[anjp]

anjp - You have to remember that the abbreviations have to be easy to understand, which means they have to represent the most common religions that the CF has dealt with up to this point.  For example, if someone were Shinto and had something like SHIN on their tags, how many people would know what that meant?

Hey I didn't make up the abbreviations , I'm just looking for the list.  I know that what I've found so far isn't complete, because my denomination isn't on the list.  But it IS on my ID discs...

For those who are curious, I told the clerks back in basic I was part of the associated gospel churches of canada.  I have 'AG' on my discs.

[PMedMoe]

So, do they just make stuff up now?   

According to both of my links:

A member claiming a religious affiliation other than those shown above will be classified Other Denomination (OD).

Perhaps they should have used AGC.   

[anjp]

Yes AGC seems to make more sense doesn't it? 
I know the list I've found and your lists aren't complete as I remember the clerks going through the options, and they included wiccan, rastafarian and a couple other memorable choices.   

It's gotta be somewhere.... I'll keep looking.

[Not a Sig Op]

Is Jedi an option yet?

[Target Up]

When I applied and had to list religion, I said C of E, the recruiter said "you mean ACC".  I said "No, I was baptised into the Church of England, that's what my baptism certificate says."  "Same thing" says he.   "Is not" says I. End result- "just put NRE then."

[George Wallace]

Just to add to the confusion, the contractor who makes/produces the ID Discs is notorious for making errors in spelling names.  If your ID Discs have a Religion that is not recognized by the CF stamped on them, then perhaps it is yet another case of the contractor making an error in spelling or perhaps using their own initiative to create an abbreviation. 

[Shamrock]

The relevant section of the CFAO reads:

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS

3.     The religious denomination of the member will be abbreviated as
follows:

Anglican ........................... ACC
Atheist, Agnostic, or no religion .. NRE
Baptist ............................ BAPT
Christian Science .................. CS
Greek Catholic ..................... GC
Greek Orthodox ..................... GO
Jewish ............................. JEW
Latter-Day Saints .................. LDS
Lutheran ........................... LUTH
Muslim ............................. MUS
New Apostolic Church ............... NAC
Other Protestant Denomination ...... OPD
Pentecostal ........................ PENT
Presbyterian ....................... PRES
Roman Catholic ..................... RC
Salvation Army ..................... SA
Unitarian Universalist ............. UNI
United Church ...................... UCC

4.     A member claiming a religious affiliation other than those shown above
will be classified Other Denomination (OD).

Issued 1989-07-07

However, each base/wing should have its own ident section.  Try giving the MP's a call tomorrow.

I mean... this question has been asked before!  How dare you come in here and not use the search function! 

[No one]

The order page at CP gear includes a couple more in the drop down menu.

http://www.cpgear.com/StoreBox/embr/1040_0.htm

I understand that's hardly official or definitive, but it might help.


Edit: the two additional ones CP gear includes are Buddhist and Hindu.

[Rheostatic]

Found this, but I don't know the source:

As of 1 June 2006, the following list of faith groups, and the abbreviations as indicated, are authorized for use for identification purposes within the Canadian Forces. 
Aboriginal Spirituality   ABSP
Anglican Church of Canada   ACC
Associated Gospel   AG
Bahá’í Faith   BAH
Baptist Church   BAPT
Brethren in Christ Church   BREN
Buddhism   BUD
Christian and Missionary Alliance   CMA
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)   DISC
Christian Congregational   CONG
Christian Reformed Church   REF
Christian Science   CS
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints   LDS
Church of the Nazarene   NAZ
Eastern Rite Catholic   CATH
Evangelical Free Church   EFC
Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada   EMC
Hinduism   HIN
Humanist   HUM
Hutterian Brotherhood   HUTT
Islam   ISL
Jehovah’s Witnesses   JEH
Judaism   JUD
Lutheran Church   LUTH
Mennonite Church   MEN
Methodist   METH
New Apostolic Church   NAC
Orthodox (Christian)    ORTH
Pagan   PAG
Pentecostal Assemblies   PENT
Presbyterian Church in Canada   PRES
Rastafarianism   RAS
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)   RSF
Roman Catholic Church   RC
Salvation Army   SA
Scientology   SCIE
Seventh-day Adventist Church   ADV
Sikhism   SIKH
Unitarian Universalist Church   UNI
United Church of Canada   UCC
Wesleyan Church   WES
Wicca   WIC
Worldwide Church of God   WCG
Zoroastrianism   ZOR
   
Atheist, Agnostic, no religion expressed   NRE
Other Christian Denomination (Protestant)   OPD
Other Eastern religions   EAST
Other religions   OREL

[anjp]

That list looks plausible... and certainly fits the abbreviation on my ID discs.   Where did you find it?

[ivan the tolerable]

If it's legit, I like the idea that the Orthodox (Christian) types are recognized as being more than just Greeks.  It was always interesting having "GO" on my dog tags and not being Greek, or even married to a Greek.

[Journeyman]

Apparently, it doesn't really matter what's on your I disc:

...chicks dig guys in uniforms, so if you join, wear your dog tags on the outside, everywhere .

[Not a Sig Op]

Everywhere.

[Rheostatic]

That list looks plausible... and certainly fits the abbreviation on my ID discs.   Where did you find it?

Like I said, I don't know the source.

[xXTheOneRavenXx]

Good evening,

I have read this topic long ago myself. Being Wiccan myself I have spent a lot more time researching this vary topic. Today I have an answer to my research and your question. CFAO 26-4 does only have a short list of religions for use on the Identity Discs. However that document was last updated 07 July 1989. Since that time CFAO's are no longer updated, but rather replaced by DAOD's. The issuing authority for this CFAO is NDIS (National Defence Identification Services). Through some friendly channels I managed to acquire their number. It turns out they drafted a replacement DAOD for CFAO 26-4 however each time they got someone in that could be the signing authority so that this new document could be assigned a DAOD number and be published, the individual got posted. Here is a bit of good news. That new long list you posted there is now issued by the Chaplain General to the Canadian Forces. I asked NDIS to send me an email with the details, their latest version of the list and an explanation; and they have. So if any of you require this to support approval for any faith on the new list including WIC to be printed on your Identity Discs look for me on military email. My last name is Brigley. I am the only one in the forces.

[MJP]

Good evening,

I have read this topic long ago myself. Being Wiccan myself I have spent a lot more time researching this vary topic. Today I have an answer to my research and your question. CFAO 26-4 does only have a short list of religions for use on the Identity Discs. However that document was last updated 07 July 1989. Since that time CFAO's are no longer updated, but rather replaced by DAOD's. The issuing authority for this CFAO is NDIS (National Defence Identification Services). Through some friendly channels I managed to acquire their number. It turns out they drafted a replacement DAOD for CFAO 26-4 however each time they got someone in that could be the signing authority so that this new document could be assigned a DAOD number and be published, the individual got posted. Here is a bit of good news. That new long list you posted there is now issued by the Chaplain General to the Canadian Forces. I asked NDIS to send me an email with the details, their latest version of the list and an explanation; and they have. So if any of you require this to support approval for any faith on the new list including WIC to be printed on your Identity Discs look for me on military email. My last name is Brigley. I am the only one in the forces.

Good work.

Why not just post it on this thread as an attachment?

[Towards_the_gap]

Out of curiousity, is there any need to have religion on the ID discs any longer? Or is it just an anachronism.

Seeing as, should you fall on some foreign field, I'm pretty sure that no matter what, your mortal remains will be returned home.  I stand-by to be corrected, but I thought the reason religion was on the dog tag was so that back in days of yore (WWI, WWII, Korea, etc), protestants weren't being laid to rest by catholic clergy or vice versa, although I admit I am not elightened as to the cosmic consequences of such a travesty.

[lethalLemon]

That's why it's still there even today.

So that Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists etc. can be properly laid to rest according to their beliefs.

From my time working at Surrey Memorial Hospital, I learned quickly the different times the morgue is accessed. Islamics are forbidden to be cremated, the body has to be bathed, shrowded and buried so the head faces Mecca. Jewish must have the deceased buried as soon as possible after death.

Sikhs are either cremated or submerged at sea, and headstones are frowned upon and I believe the body has to be cremated and laid to rest by their religious leaders before sunrise if the person died at night, and before sunset if they died at day.

That is why. 

[aesop081]

Seeing as, should you fall on some foreign field, I'm pretty sure that no matter what, your mortal remains will be returned home.

It is still entirely possible that bodies be recovered by enemy forces. They may not be returned home in short order or ever.

[Duckie]

Having your body returned from overseas is almost impossible during full-scale war. Also, the religion on the id discs is there to make it easier to find the appropriate person to administer last rights (or other religious equivalent) to a dying soldier.

[xXTheOneRavenXx]

At first, I didn't realize I could. But I didn't check either. Sorry about that. Here is the doc, but I cannot post peoples contact info because of course we are not allowed to post military email addresses, etc...