Canadian vs. US Terms

[nexxyboi]

Oh, and lemme tell you, MREs are lies on both counts.

Hardly meals and they‘re never ready to eat. LOL. They contain a chemical heater pack. Add water and a chemical exothermic reaction takes place and burns everything up. The "Meals" are edible without being heated, but either way they‘re not particularly good and can hardly be considered meals. The vegitarian meals always have the good desserts though.

 

[nexxyboi]

I don‘t know where you heard the terms "outfits", but we use units over here too.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Whether or not they are all E-9, there are different names, insignia, and positions for each. Whereas a CWO is a CWO whether he‘s a CSM, RSM, Base SM, Brigade SM, or the SM of the Army or the CF.

Actually, you‘ll find the Canadian Forces CWO and a Brigade RSM have distinctive insignia - the brigade RSM has a crossed set of swords in addition to his coat of arms, and I believe the CF CWO has a maple leaf wreath around the coat of arms. They are still graded as CWO but wear different insignia like their US counterparts.

Having trouble figuring out why Sherwood thinks a 5/4 ton truck would be called deuce and a half; this was a term used for the 2 - 1/2 ton truck (hence the name).

Incidentally, the 1/4 ton truck was called a Peep, the 1/2 ton truck a Jeep and the 3/4 ton truck a Beep. (The Willy‘s-Overland company lobbied in the press to get the 1/4 truck referred to as jeep, and eventually won out - though in the military itself, some units called it a Peep right throughout the war).

 

[Michael Dorosh]

It‘s also funny to see US soldiers swear up and down they would never use the term ‘clip‘ or ‘dog tags‘ - in common usage of course they do, just as Canada has soldiers who chew gum, put their hands in their pockets, or refer to Honour Guards. If every soldier every had to memorize and use exclusively every bit of arcane trivia about his army and its standard nomenclature, he would get little else accomplished.

Funnilly enough, I have heard Canadians refer to magazines as "clips" and ID discs as "dogtags" and have used the latter myself in conversation with newly joined troops who probably wouldn‘t understand any other designation I put to them.

Hollywood is the great leveller; no use pretending it isn‘t.

At any rate, we don‘t have Word Police in Canada, though perhaps it is a function of the Office of Homeland Security??

 

[Jarnhamar]

Michael to show our thanks we should teach the americans how to wear berets so it doesnt look like you can land a fighter plane on them

 

[nexxyboi]

Ha ha well at least we don‘t wear our service caps to make them look as if they‘re about to fall off.

 

[toms3]

oh oh.....it is getting nasty

 

[patrick666]

Atleast people like our army.

 

[Slim]

Stepping in to kidnap the discussion...
We ( Canada) now have the little chem heater pack for IMP‘s, which I quite like...just don‘t drink the water.Lol
I found out that Warrent Officers are, in fact, officers in the U.S. Army the hard way. The first time I went down there for training I spoke to one without cracking off a "high-five" and got dumped on for it! Must have missed the "WO‘s are commisioned" lecture.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Um, Actually you do.
??

I have a feeling in YOUR branch of "special" forces you take the short bus to work.

 

[Paul Gagnon]

Americans use "Canteens", we use "waterbottles".

What the he11 are you smoking? Unless things have changed drastically in the last few years it was always reffered to as a canteen.

 

[onecat]

"Clips", "waterbottles" I think your spending too much time in the past. No one in Canada calls them waterbottles.... Its been canteens since my dad‘s days. And he was in the RCAF in early 60‘s.

I would agree that Americans do need some advice on how to wear a berets.

 

[henleykg]

Americans DO wear chevrons. A "chevron" is made up of a given number of stripes and rockers.

i.e.- Staff Sergeant‘s chevrons, Corporal‘s chevrons.

Also the U.S. Army uses the "regiment" designation differently from the U.S. Marine Corps.
In the Corps, a regiment is made up of 3 Infantry Battalions. A Brigade is made up of 3 regiments but is only used in the designation of a Marine Amphibious Brigade.

In the Corps, our Sergeants Major all hold the same title regardless of their billet with the acception of the Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps.

Also, whomever it was that said the U.S. Army does not wear anything French...yes you do...you wear Berets. I can proudly say that the USMC has never worn those nasty French contraptions.

As far as "clips" and "magazines". Yes, you will hear US servicemen use the term "clip". But when you do they will be making reference to a clip as it should be. Such as the M-1 Garand. It uses a clip and not a magazine. A clip holds rounds together and is automatically ejected after it is empty. A magazine is inserted into the bottom of a receiver and is removed by the operator when it is empty. I have never heard a US serviceman mix the two terms up, although civilians commonly confuse the term.

 

[nexxyboi]

Um, Actually you do.
??

I have a feeling in YOUR branch of "special" forces you take the short bus to work.

I‘m talking about service CAPS, not berets. And I didn‘t quite get that weird Canadian expression...

 

[L/MCpl_Argyll_ Kurrgan]

Well, I dare you to tell someone wearing a maroon berret that he‘s wearing a fruity french hat on his head. You‘ll end up in intensive care or better yet, in a casket.

 

[McInnes]

nasty french contraption? exactly what is so nasty about a beret?

 

[toms3]

I believe hostilities are about to break out. Personally, I really don‘t care much for this thread; at first I thought it was funny, now you can see it is changing.

I think the value of an army are in it soldiers. Canteen, clips, beret,.....who cares, call it what you want. What matters in the end is the person in the trench next to you regardless if he or she is American or Canadian.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Duck and run digger

Nexxiboi, In the Canadian Army we wear Berets and bush hats (or wide brim combat hat whatever you wanna call it). Not service hats so your attempt at a joke is screwed up from the get go.

I doubt you WOULD get that expression, ignorance is bliss eh rain man?

Good dig Baker
Just curious though, why do you have a low regard for france? Please tell me it‘s not simply because they did not support your countries war against iraq.

 

[onecat]

"CDN Actress in a make-believe movie " sorry Baker have no idea where you coming from. I based on opinion on beret form, from how I‘ve seen US troop wear them in the news media. And it was more of joke because we all know Canadians are the masters of beret.

But like Ghost asked I would like to know why you have a hate on for France.

 

[jrhume]

I can add a little info to the discussions about berets or clips vs magazines. As far as I can recall, only SF types wore berets when I was in (1965-68). They didn‘t look effeminate. LOL

"Clips" and "magazines". We had both. Our M-16s had 20-round magazines which one filled using stripper clips. The M-1 was out of service at the time, except maybe in Guard units. None of us had any experience with Garand clips. I have heard soldiers call magazines by either name and it confused no one. It‘s not a biggie.

As for ranks, here is the official US Army take on specialist ranks. In 1958, the ranks E-8 and E-9 were created, along with Specialist ranks paralleling regular ranks (hard stripes) from E-4 to E-9. In 1965, SP8 and SP9 were discontinued. In 1978, SP7 went away. In 1985, SP5 and SP6 were discontinued. SP4 remains in use as a non-NCO alternative to Corporal.

The Specialist grades were never very useful except in highly . . . uh . . . specialized jobs. I was an SP5, Air Traffic Controller, but I commanded a detachment of 5 controllers for some months in Vietnam. That was really a sergeant‘s job. Mostly, we paid no attention to strict protocol. I was an SP5 NCO performing the duties equivalent to regular rank. If there had been an NCO club at Dong Tam or Vinh Long, I could have gone there. So what?

I imagine various grades of Specialists existed long after the dates given above. The Army usually authorized the wearing of old rank insignia until a soldier‘s next promotion. All the rank info is available on the Army‘s perscom site.

Jim