Kit Inspection

As my colleagues or "oppo's" and I continued our training, the half way point was marked with a kit muster.  If the muster was passed the new rating was allowed to wear his lanyard around his waist, this gave a certain long service kudos to the individual.  The kit muster comprises of laying all one's kit out in a condition which should be immaculate, ready for an inspection by an officer of some sort.

Typical Kit Muster Lay Out

Each item of uniform should be presented in a specific way, folded precisely as instructed, and placed in its own space as per the photograph on the mess notice board. Failure to pass would result in the absolute shame of being back classed, and no one wanted that. I know what most people will be thinking at this point, your kit is only three weeks old, it should be immaculate anyway. To a point you are correct, and some of the kit would not have been used. But let me tell you, the kit you have used will have been put through the wringer in more than one way. For example, the clothing worn to tackle the assault course will at some point have been covered in a very thick layer of mud. I remember the first time we covered it, we took it in turn hosing each other down on return to the mess and stripped completely naked got another hosing. Great lumps of mud dropped to the floor under the hoses pressure, both before and after stripping off.

As with everyone else, I too was feeling a little nervous at the mid point kit muster.  Was my kit pressed correctly? Was my kit clean enough?  This was the sort of question that was going through everyone's head as we waited for the officer to reach our individual bed space, one by one he poured over the kit of each individual, lifting some to check underneath and writing on his clip board.  Finally he arrived at my bed, as all my oppo's before me had done I threw my best salute and invited the officer to inspect my kit.  He started to go through it item by item, just like he had to everyone else, then came the words that made me go pale; where are you plimsolls   Life at this point seemed to have ground to a halt, surely I was going to get back classed, my immaculate white plimsolls were missing, not there, gone?  "I believe they are in the drying room sir" came my hasty reply, "best go and get them then" said he.  Off I duly sprinted to the end of the mess room, down the few steps and right into the drying room, there on one of the wooden slatted drying racks where a solitary pair of immaculate pusser's white plimsolls.  I grabbed them as quick as I could and sprinted the return journey back to my bed, out of the drying room, turn left up the few steps and into the mess room just in time to witness the remainder of my kit falling to the floor.  The officer carrying out the kit inspection had upended the mattress where I had earlier placed my kit with precision, the same kit that was now strewn over the floor around my bed.  I arrived at my bed and presented my plimsolls to the officer who glanced at them for a split second before raising his eyes to meet mine, "you won't forget those again will you?"  "No Sir" came my sorrowful reply, he moved on.

Fortunately he must have overlooked my minor error after being swayed by the immaculate state of the rest of my kit, for the very next day I was informed that I was now able to wear my lanyard round my waist.