A Selection of Shoulder Patches from Afghanistan

There were about 10 or 11 who wore the patch during Roto 6 (2008-09) all served at the FOB in Spin Boldak.

Hi Sarge, Sorry being a bit pedantic about this, but which unit? Or,was it a composite group?

We were a composite group. There was a CIMIC/JDCC group and a medic for part of the tour. Four of the JDCC guys were navy, two were signals, three army guys (reservists) for the CIMIC team and the medic.

sarge, were you connected with / part of the PRT's? Do you have a photo of the patch in wear in Afghanistan?

Another one to add to the confusion...

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Here's the PRT badge that we wore during ROTO6.
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Thanks. So, the PRT patch was worn with the SRA patch? (Eg at the same time?)

Hi Bill

We had velcro on both sleeves. On the shirts done up for me, there was x2 places on the left sleeve not counting the flag at the top and one smaller spot of velcro on the right sleeve. In my limited experience with the homegrown and quasi-official (As well as the "Official" ones) around KAF, combinations of location are varied. No one ever told me which spot which of my patches were to go but looking around upon arrival.......you get the idea. :lol:

There were these "patch police" (NCOs appointed by the NCE CWO) going around the public areas on KAF questioning Cdn soldiers on some of their patches, as I recall being asked about mine. Usually they hassled the BG guys coming inside the KAF wire for a whatever reason. Like they needed that crap but they were usually the ones who had the crazy patches. FOB guys didn't like hanging around KAF, that's for sure. :lol:

PRT, OMLT, and CIMIC also were rather "prolific" in their patches during my sole tour in Afg.

Usually it was a combination of one of the three little Cdn flags (tan, IR or red&white), the big round generic tan ISAF one, the tricolour IR recognition rectangle, the large IR Cdn flag and any KAF-made job you could get away with. :lol:

Here are some left arms of "KAF Rats" like me

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regards
Darrell

mk1rceme wrote:Another one to add to the confusion...

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Ahhh Dale, not Afg. :idea:

South West Asia Theatre Support Element was in Mirage. See, patches everywhere!! :lol: Good luck beyonfd the issue series of ever rationalizing the made-up ones into a collector's guide.

May as well track the Coins done up there too.

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regards
Darrell

Thanks Darrel. Good images of the sleeves.
What did the CIMIC guys wear, if you remember?

Generally we just wore the IR Canadian flag, ISAF, black and white badge, the PRT patch and in the FOBs, your own call sign patch.
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You can see the badges in this pic. The PRT badge is under the IR Canadian flag on my right arm. Most guys on my tour wore their other patches on the right arm where my PRT patch is in this picture.

Here's the coins that I had made up for our CIMIC Company during the tour.
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Might as well share a photo of my current unit patch that I just picked up from the board walk this evening. I had this one made myself and so far this is the only one like it but I plan on having a few more made up.

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Very nice Sarge and Steve!

So basically you can design your own patches and coins? Gonna drive collectors nuts for sure!!

Great design Infanteer!

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I should have been more clear in my statement.... the logo for the tour was designed by a fellow tech on my crew but after being here a month nobody has made a patch yet so I took it upon myself to go to the embroidery shop with the design and had this patch made up to my specs. Oh, and I also had a couple of unit titles made up for my slip-ons (CHF(A))that everyone seems to like but so far I'm the only one wearing those too...


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Dale, yes, like I said earlier, in a few years some poor guys will try to write the definative book of unit and sub-unit patches worn by Canadians during the war in Afghanistan. They'll probably start off with great motivation and a great attitude and after years of gathering photos and publishing the book, they'll find a dozen patches on ebay that they've never heard of before.
The same probably goes with challegne coins unit penents.
I bet many a RSM has laid awake at night trying to find a way to stop the madness of individuality of these patches.

Well, where I work nobody cares as long as what you are wearing is professional and not rude/obscene or just plain stupid (open to interpretation). Anyone outside the unit wouldn't have a clue if the patches were standard or individual as there are so many different patches being worn over here. I gotta say that something as simple as a unit patch can do wonders for unit morale and esprit de corps so it's good to see that a certain amount of latitude is being given in this area. I would think that it would be virtually impossible for anyone to build a "complete" collection of unit patches worn in Afghanistan. A decent representation of the type of patches worn would be possible and would be quite interesting as well.

mk1rceme wrote:Very nice Sarge and Steve!

So basically you can design your own patches and coins? Gonna drive collectors nuts for sure!!

Oh ya.... just bring a drawing to the embroidery shop and tell them the size a colors you want along with the quantity (minimum of one) of patches you desire and then all you gotta do is pay and wait for them to be made. You are only limited by your imagination and possibly your budget. On my first tour a large multi color patch could be made for $7 or $8 but now they seem to be averaging $12 to $13. Same goes for the bazaar on Satudays... the prices are way up.

Steve has hit the key here. There is "benign ignorance" on the part of authorities. No one in a position of authority is going to go hard a** on these patches because the benefits far outweigh any perceived drawbacks. The practice has exploded since the KAF deployment. Before then there were only the ISAF patches and the KMB patches.
Not having official sanction is a pain to those who are studying the insignia, but that certainly isn't any significant deterrent to the guys that want something to distinguish them and their job. There are far more important things to think about when deployed than seeking approval for a patch.

Hi guys, I got these pieces from a retired army officer who started out with 1 C Scot R but ended up in the paratroopers. He went to Afghanistan as a Captain with the para corps, and, if I am not very much mistaken, fulfilling a role with the Military Police. I'll ask him sometime. I'm not too sure what the patch with the wings and the sword is for though.

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Hi Wouter, All of the insignia you have illustrated is for the combat dress uniform. The patch is for the SSF, and was the type worn on the jump smocks.
The Canadian Parachute Regiment was disbanded long before the Afghanistan deployment, and that insignia would not have been worn there. (the slip-on with the para wing, and the round combat cap badge.) The Canadian Scottish slip-on has the pre-unification rank badge on it and it would date to circa 1968-1970 ish.

I am so pleased to see this topic expanded so much, and have much more input from others who have been over and are currently over. As many here know, I have been in KAF for far too long, 4 tours plus another 3 1/2 month extension.

I was out on a temporary medical repat for 30days. I have been back now for almost 3 weeks but only NOW starting to venture out a bit. To call the ground here uneven is an understatement. I do hope to start being able to add to this topic again very soon.

(Steve, we have to talk my friend :) )

As part of my regular day off routine, I go to Canada House and Tim Horton's after lunch. I am try to have my camera with me so I can snap photos of badges, personnel, equipment, whatever catches my eye.

Well I pretty much struck out and was returning to my lines. I walked down the boardwalk with my son, he decided he wanted to go into the Sea-Can (a Canex outlet on the boardwalk).

We were inside looking around at things and I noticed a MP sanding there looking through the shorts on the rack. I excused myself and asked him if he minded me taking a photo of him with his Roto 10 MP patch.

He looked at me and then his patch, took his patch off and handed it to me saying something like "here, instead of a photo, here is the patch"

I asked him if he was certain he agreed. So now I have this wonderful patch and STILL NO PHOTO of it in use. Below is the Roto 10 Patch many of the MPs are sporting. Soon I hope to have a photo of the patch in use.

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Great work Cliff. Interesting patch. Obviously unofficial as it is only unilingual.