I've heard that saying. I suspect it ultimately depends on your unit, your relationship with your troops, and your tasking.
In the case of mortars when I was with them, we were at one point maintaining an 8 man overt OP, an on-camp mortar line and a constant patrolling presence with 28 or so men, not including R&R, sickness, etc. That meant that A) our NCOs were extremely busy (our officer spent most of the tour on compassionate leave), and B) we all had to be ready to step into someone else's place at a moments notice. It was not unusual for people to come off the helicopter from the OP after 8 days and be told that they were on a patrol that was leaving in 5 minutes, which left little time for kit checks.
In those circumstances, we never had anyone lacking vital kit, the only kit checks we conducted were to ensure we had all our sensitive items once a month.
Of course, if we were doing deliberate ops such as arrests or assaults, we would do kit checks and all that good stuff. But even then, it wouldn't be the case of being given a specific packing list, more a case of carry what you know you need, and Section/Flight kit will be spread out amongst you as necessary.
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