.... mindboggling to read some of the unbelievable "poor me" notes and all the whinging....
During my years of service, I saw a lot of individuals who went on sick parade trying to get medical chits to acquire non-standard items. Some of them were medically legitimate and others were simply the method used to get issued the items they properly required, usually because they did not fit the size available in the system. While it wasn't an actual "pissing contest" between supply and the medics concerning who was responsible for paying for the items, it could at times be a hassle.
Here is an outrageous example of this though it is not about footwear, and a true story from the mid 80's.
Just prior to leaving NDHQ MIR (my last week, I think) to go to Chilliwack for BOTC, I was working the desk and received a call from a Major who wanted an appointment with a MO in order to get a note stating that he required an extra long bed. The Major lived-in at either Uplands or Rockcliffe (an unusual occurrence at the time). He stated that he was very tall (over 6'6" or 6'7" IIRC) and he could not fit into the longest bed that was available through BAccom. Supposedly, a clerk over there had told him that if he had a medical chit they could get him an even longer bed. This was a new one for me and I expressed my amusement by saying "You're s#@&&ing me, aren't you Sir?" He assured me he wasn't and that he was completely serious. He went on for several minutes about the issue, so much so I wondered whether some of my coworkers were trying to pull a practical joke on me before I left (at the time I had already been promoted/demoted to the lofty rank of OCdt and
my fellow the NCOs liked nothing better than telling me that it was part of their job to ensure that untrained OCdts did not screw up).
Realizing the absurdity of the situation (after all, I was now an officer and was able to understand such subtleties) I told the Major that if he really needed the appointment I could book one for him, but I asked him if he thought he had a medical problem. He answered that, honestly, he didn't but what was he to do? I suggested he personally go to the office of the clerk who told him to see the doc and thus by towering over that individual would convince him that he was as big as he claimed. He might even be able to terrify the clerk enough that the longer bed would be provided on the spot.
By this time I was so self-impressed with my own wit, I continued, telling the Major that the medics deal with the medical disabilities of the human body. His size did not seem to be a disability, in fact, he was probably very proud of his size and other than a few Lurch jokes and some minor trouble finding clothes to fit, he wouldn't have it any other way. If he thought that his size was a disability, then sure, see the MO and maybe he will cut him down to a proper size. The major laughed and agreed with me that this should not be a medical issue and said he would deal with it on the supply side of things. No appointment was made at that time and by the following weekend I was in Chilliwack. Other than recalling it as an amusing anecdote, that should have been the end.
About two years later I was back in Ottawa at NDHQ. Among the many duties of my position, I was the LCMM for 6530 class items and also responsible for staffing non-medical MACRs which required medical branch input. One of the MACRs sitting in my in-box was a request for an extra long bed for CFB Ottawa to be used in single officer quarters. One of the attachments to the file was a copy of a chit from the MO.
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