They were referring to the body patches that were available for the M38A1CDN2 and 3s back in the early 80s. There was a CFTO outlining all the various patches available, and as well fenders were made available again as a repair part, and were part of the life extension of that particular fleet.
Being from the West, we didn't use the patch kits much. I was at CFB Winnipeg during this time period and we did not use them at all. But any Jeeps we saw that came on VMOs from the East had them, and plenty. Often they were merely pop-rivetted on, sometimes the installations were done better.
Since I never saw the patches new in the box, I cannot say what part DEW engineering had in their development or manufacture. DEW is a company that has done R&D, as well as manufacturing and modifications for the DND for many years now.
WRT the life extension programs, they were common back in the 80s and 90s. We would buy a fleet of vehicles that were expected to last 6-9 years. Then, thanks to the expense of replacing a fleet of vehicles that size, we would have to life extend them, especially the eastern vehicles which would suffer from corrosion. The 5/4 tons were life extended around 1984, the MLVWs around 1992 and the ILtis also was around 92/93.
After all, what good is a truck if you can't get 20 to 30 years out of it?
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