Can a soldier keep their military gear?


You may be wondering what to do with all of your military gear when you finish up your Military service. Can you keep any of your military gear, or do you have to return it back to the Military that issued it to you?

When you finish your Military service, any issued military gear must be returned to where it was issued from. You will have to pay a fee for losing and or keeping the gear. The only exception being that of you being issued excess gear.

So how do you return your Military gear correctly? And how will you be able to know which of all your gear has been issued as extra, and which should be returned?

Verifying from where your Military gear was issued

Your Military gear should have been issued for and by your specific unit to which you were assigned. If you switch units, there is good possibility that you will have to return at least a portion of your gear. If this is to occur, then you should receive another set of Military gear from your newly assigned unit.

Wherever your current gear has come from, you must return it back to the unit from which it came. The Gear should have come, and should be returned, with the receipts that should have been given to you under your name.

Tip: If you are still a bit unsure as to where your current Military gear has come from, then look for the receipt that should have come with your gear. Verify on the receipt to see if the unit information is there or not.

Warning: The receipt may not have this information, or you may even have lost the receipt that should have been given. In either case, if you do not find out where to return the gear to, you will be required to pay for any gear that you have either lost or decided to keep.

Tip: If you still have no idea where to return your gear, do some digging and backtracking to figure our where the gear came from. Call up some old leaders or anyone linked to the process of receiving the gear to find where to return it to.

(Source: Do you get to keep your gear when you leave the military? – Quora)

What can happen if you fail to return your gear

If you fail to return your gear, then it is more than likely that you will be required to make a payment in order to be able to pay off the cost of it.

Tip: If you honestly cannot find the receipt or any way of reaching the unit from which your gear has originally been issued, then it is best to simply pay any required fees to be able to move on.

If you’re concerned about not being able to pay the fee, any replacement gear can function as a stand in return for lost gear. In this case, you would still be paying for the replacement gear. However, you would still find that it was entirely necessary to pay for the gear.

With this understanding, as previously stated, it would be best to keep your Military gear and pay the given fee. However, it may be required by your current unit to return the gear and not pay a fee. And in this case, a replacement set of gear would be the optimal decision to make in most cases.

(Source: can you keep your helmet or vest? | Yahoo Answers)

Knowing whether your gear can be kept or not

As previously stated, it will almost always be necessary to return any gear that has been issued by any Military unit to you. In order to know for certain if you should return this specific set of gear to your current unit or not, you should dig a little bit deeper into where the gear came from and why.

If the gear was given in excess, then there is a good possibility that you will be able to keep some of the given gear. However, if it was only part of the regular unit sets, then you will more than likely be required to return it.

Tip: At times, there are specific types of Military gear that have been specially issued and are not required to be returned at any time. Verify if the gear you have been given was specially issued or not.

Returning gear upon unit rotation

There are times when you will be in rotation, from one unit to another one. If this is the case, and you are the one moving from one unit to the next, it will more than likely be required for you to return your current unit’s Military gear.

For your information: You should receive the new sets of gear required and issued by the new unit to which you get moved to. In which case, the return of your old unit’s gear will be a requirement.

Warning: If you don’t remember to continually return your gear periodically, then it will be likely that you may be required to pay a consistent fee with each unit transfer. And if you are moved between units in a consistent and common pattern, then it would be best to return your gear from the beginning.

(source: can you keep your helmet or vest? | Yahoo Answers)

Does what gear you can keep change based on your Military Branch?

What gear is allowed to be kept may range depending on which branch of the military you are serving in.

For example; If you are serving in the air force, then you are likely going to be able to keep your unit’s helmet. As such, the current regulations described above, may need to be adjusted for your specific branch.

Tip: Look into what regulations and rules concerning your uniform may apply to your specific branch before making a decision concerning your military gear.

(source: Keeping your helmet – General Discussion – Baseops Forums (flyingsquadron.com))

Recent Posts