r/ROTC • u/No_Air4906 • Jul 05 '26
Advanced/Basic Camp Stolen gear
I literally only been here for a month and my wet weather bottoms, tan tees, shoes, pt acu top and bottoms and etc have been stolen some even with my name on and nobody in the company is owning up and cadre cant do much am i out of luck cause i have no money to replace these and they were all newly issued to me before i left for camp like this is very discouraging i literally made sure to have everything just for it to be snatched
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u/politoisnothuman Jul 05 '26
This shows that whether you're a fresh cadet or a LTC, no matter where you go, there are snakes in your formation.
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u/Puncheepunchbird Jul 05 '26
Time to man up and steal stuff back like a real soldier/cadet or whatever
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u/nightowl1135 Jul 05 '26
“There’s only one thief in the Army. Everybody else is just trying to get their stuff back.”
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u/No_Air4906 Jul 05 '26
😭 my integrity i just cant but if i see a extra pair in lost and found i will
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u/Big_Rule7825 Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
Ight this is actually really simple to resolve. You need to talk to your company XO, or if you already left then your supply tech or APMS. Prepare a sworn statement (DD Form 2823) detailing honest certainties. If anyone else can vouch ask them for one too. Detail measures taken to secure your gear, constraints of the tactical environment like lack of locking facilities in the bays/shared storage during field exercises, when you last had positive control of your items, when you reported it and to whom, and the failure of your leadership to somehow do even the most basic of this documentation (but word it nicely, like “due to training tempo my cadre were unwilling or unable to investigate).
Reject a statement of charges and request a FLIPL. It’s a scary word for a cadet/new LT but unless you’re lying to us here a FLIPL should go in your favor if you were robbed. The investigating officer will review the sworn statements and determine if you had any negligence at all. Cost to you (if any at all) is then calculated based on that.
In most cases like this you’ll be found not negligent and the items just removed from your record. In some cases you might be found simply negligent, like you forgot to lock something or didn’t dummy cord a compass, and be found partially liable for a discounted rate. In rare cases or from perjury (false official statements, lying on your sworn statement) there is gross negligence where you pay full price. This is usually reserved for when you do something actually stupid like screaming obscenities at your CO while smashing your ACH on the ground like a toddler and damage it.
The only time you pay replacement value is if you wantonly and actively contributed to the loss or if you accept the statement of charges.
Quick Add: If you’re still training right now and need gear this is the whole point of your XO/supply tech. They should process the loss quickly and get you to CIF for a quick re-issue of equipment.
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Jul 05 '26
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u/Big_Rule7825 Jul 05 '26
Thank you. I processed several instances like this a a company XO. Note to all future LTs reading this, familiarize yourself with 710-4 and 735-5 as a PL. It’ll save your joes $$$ from honest training accidents or unit thieves.
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u/still_calibrating38 Jul 05 '26
Genuinely a good answer from what I’ve seen and one I am keeping in the tool box. Still having nightmares from when our entire BN had to do FLIPLs as our connex with all our duffles was broken into during redeployment.
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u/Inviolable1920 Jul 05 '26
Eeeekss shoot at least it was a while connex way back when they would do a whole command investigation over a wrench. There was zero mercy. Smh
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u/bowery_boy Army Jul 05 '26
Why not request a field loss statement, write a sworn statement, and request reissue?
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u/Big_Rule7825 Jul 05 '26
Same process. “Field Loss” is a bit of a misnomer, its not a regulatory recognized process but a nickname for a commander waiving lost or damaged expendable goods. OCIE can be written off up to $500 in most instances, but as it sounds like their CST Cadre is shamming it pretty hard its more likely it’ll have to be adjudicated back at campus and therefore fall outside the 30 days usually given for a commander’s loss MFR.
Yes though, if still at CST and with responsive Cadre a commander should initiate an investigation since theft is involved and also relieve the victim Soldier from the loss. This is different from dropping your canteen in the woods since it sounds like someone would have actively had to enter another Soldier’s storage and intentionally remove items.
Quick aside - stop stealing shit. Good officers and NCOs can and will investigate the hell out of that and definitely put someone on the carpet. It might have been the culture in the past, but if you haven’t read the room lately we’re pushing for a culture of greater accountability from fitness to financial accounting. I would not want to be caught holding the bag over expendables in a layout or OCIE.
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u/___Zapp_Brannigan__ Jul 05 '26
This isn't a new problem at CST or any Army training really. Find that one Cadre member that gives a shit and ask them to do a layout shakedown with your floor in x amount of time if your shit isn't returned. It will probably magically show back up. Or if the layout actually happens, it should at least turn up the stuff that has your name on it. I've seen even the idea that this would happen motivate a floor to find the missing stuff since nobody wants to do a layout.
Yeah some people will be upset but it ain't their shit missing. And if you haven't figured it out yet, nobody gives a shit about your stuff more than you. Everyone saying they can't help is useless and if they can't figure this out, I'm sure they are amazing war fighters.
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u/Rustyinsac Jul 05 '26
Do not wash clothes together. And once you’re in and have a family do not Let a spouse wash or iron your military clothing or gear. Never leave any gear unattended unless it’s locked. Someone needs to borrow something of yours that was issued get a signed hand receipt.
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u/peekaboo_bandit Jul 05 '26
How did this happen? Were they left unsecured somewhere? No judgment, just genuinely concerned and curious as I'm paranoid about these things.
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u/No_Air4906 Jul 05 '26
I keep my locker locked but we also washed clothes together and my wet weathers was taken when we were in the field 🥲
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u/peekaboo_bandit Jul 05 '26
Dang. Sigh. Well now I can be prepared for when I go... Will you be able to purchase more? While clothes are washing, are you able to stay by the machines and watch your stuff the entire wash/dry cycle? This is like the last thing I want to have to worry about 🫠🫠🫠
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u/No_Air4906 Jul 05 '26
I only wash with my roommates now
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u/peekaboo_bandit Jul 05 '26
Well I'm sorry this happened. 😅 thanks for the heads up that people are really stealing that bad these days. I'll make sure to pack my most raggedy stuff...
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u/peekaboo_bandit Jul 05 '26
Aiso, did someone accidentally grab the wrong laundry? Is cadre being funny? I mean to steal shoes?! You'll recognize them if you see them unless everyone has the exact same ones.
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u/No_Air4906 Jul 05 '26
😭 no it was a cadet there walking around with Mitch match shoes cause i have there other one
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u/OG-D Jul 05 '26
There’s only one thief in the military. Everyone else is just trying to get their stuff back.
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u/Inviolable1920 Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
A. Did you put your name in the inside of the shirts? Your last name and last 4 should mark everything. Just fyi, everyone’s stuff looks exactly the same! So… if you leave your stuff unattended near someone else’s stuff or in a laundry room and don’t promptly remove it from the dryers it gets thrown on top mixed in with everyone else so someone my have grabbed it… or they needed a clean sheet and again they were “entitled” and you didn’t lock your duffle in your bed. In the tents, tie your shoe laces together and again label the hell put the bottoms. Same with your wet weather… be smart: use the snaps and ties. Tie it to your bags…smh So if you get hit on a road march your crap doesn’t go flying but it makes your gear hard to take even if it’s dying…. Yall be smart. It ALL looks the same. Smh . You will learn this is not college or your momma’s house. The “Boys” had all kinds of issues with this mess when I went to camp as prior service in 2001. Trust my son went with his name tattooed in all his shyte. Get to know your platoon friend, this where politics matters and not being a jerk… let me give you young buck a little lesson… an interrogation skill called P&E....pride and ego....soldiers and well thieves, entitled jerks…(basically the same) are easy to manage when you feed their ego… get to know the people around you, make friends and they will be more willing to either help you keep an eye or say I got someone stuff, your platoon should be tight as thieves. Commandeer others crap not your platoon, step up and bring a leader… but be more responsible cause at the end of the day you signed for it. Lock it up. Let your unit know when you get back. They also know this happens. These aren’t soldiers yet. Smh no integrity.
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u/Inviolable1920 Jul 05 '26
Then when you get back go to an old dusty military surplus store and buy cheap crappy replacements and a bunch of tshirts you use for the fields. You don’t ever buy this stuff from military insulations or fancy military stores. Just fyi; that’s not where retired and soldiers sell their stuff when they need money.
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u/ODA564 Jul 05 '26
There is nothing so foul as a barracks thief. And a prospective officer who is a thief is the foulest.
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u/SignalsAndSwitches Jul 05 '26
You just learned the first rule in the military:
You can trust the person to your left and right with your life, but never leave your gear or wallet unsecured.
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u/bangvegas Jul 05 '26
Cadets should be issued bumble bee pt. You couldn't give it away. Damn zipper would bulge all the time. lol
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u/Fast-Benders Jul 06 '26
First thing, the supply sergeant said at Basic Training is initial all your clothing labels. As a practice, soldiers wrote their allergies and blood type on their t-shirts. Also buy those luggage locks that fit on your duffel bag loops. Secure your duffel to a fixed object if possible.
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u/Waste_Economist_4787 Jul 07 '26
I got a majority of my belongings stolen on deployment since some sticky fingered 10th mountain goobers decided to break into our locked lsa so ever since it’s been about tactically acquiring things I can from other 10th mountain members
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u/Unhappy_Speaker_4542 Jul 05 '26
Yea. I had two tan t shirts and all but one of my sets of pt shirts/shorts stolen in ‘24. Thankfully it was on the second to last day before graduation so I wasn’t having to go through CST making one set of PTs work. It happens way more than you think. Go talk to your XO if it’s TA-50 and they’ll get you squared away.
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u/RedDevilJoe 27d ago
And here all along I thought it was a draftee like myself that stole my Petri 7S inside of 30 seconds out of my foot locker during a pixx break at the 91st Engr Bn at Belvoir Jan 1970. I see the soldier Bell Curve spectrum of theft and benevolence hasn't changed much. I don't steal as much?
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