This is typical bureaucratic nonsense, but it’s not new.
I remember reading about a British officer who lost his pistol during the battle of El Alamein worrying about whether he’d be charged for it.
The (ahem) “proper” thing to do is to declare that the property in question was a “combat loss” (destroyed in combat). Then there is no charge for it, and the bureaucracy is happy...
Don’t commanding officers pay attention to such things?
The soldier here does the same and submits a statement to the Army that his gear was lost due to enemy action. Case closed.