Frag (military)

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For a type of grenade see fragmentation grenade.

Frag is a term from the Vietnam War, most commonly meaning to assassinate an unpopular member of one's own fighting unit, often by means of a fragmentation grenade. A hand grenade was often used because it would not leave any fingerprints, and because a ballistics test could not be done (as it could to match a bullet with a firearm). A fragging victim could also be killed by intentional friendly fire during combat. In either case, the death would be blamed on the enemy, and, due to the dead man's unpopularity, it was assumed no one would contradict the story. The intended victim of a fragging was sometimes given warnings, of which the first might be a grenade pin on the sheet of the victim, and later on, a tear gas grenade.^{[citation needed]}

Fragging most often involved the killing of a commanding officer or a senior noncommissioned officer perceived as unpopular, harsh, or inept. If a C.O. was incompetent, fragging the officer was considered a means to the end of self preservation for the men serving under him. Fragging might also occur if a commander freely took on dangerous or suicidal missions, especially if he was deemed to be seeking glory for himself. The very idea of fragging served to warn junior officers to avoid the ire of their enlisted men through recklessness, cowardice, or lack of leadership.

During the Vietnam War, fragging was reportedly common. There are documented cases of at least 230 American officers murdered by their own troops, and as many as 1,400 other officers' deaths could not be explained^[1]. As many as 25% of all officer casualties during the war were due to fragging^{[citation needed]}. Interestingly enough, incidents of fragging have been recorded as far back as the American Civil War.^{[citation needed]}

As of 2006, there have been two reported instances of fragging by US soldiers in the Iraq War: the murders of Captain Phillip Esposito and Lt. Louis Allen by Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez and the murder of two officers in Kuwait by Hasan Akbar.

Contents 1 Notable incidents 2 See also 3 External links 4 Footnotes 5 References

[edit] Notable incidents

• 1704 – Battle of Blenheim: An unpopular major of the 15th Foot Regiment was shot in the head by his own men after the battle had been won^[2].
• 1815 – Battle of Quatre Bras: The commander of the 92nd Foot, Colonel Cameron of Fassfern, was shot and killed by a man whom he had recently flogged ^[2].
• World War I: An unpopular sergeant was killed when one of his men came up behind him and dropped an unpinned hand grenade down his pants^[3].

[edit] See also

• Frag (video gaming)
• Mutiny
• Friendly fire

[edit] External links

• "Fragging" and "Combat Refusals" in Vietnam - provides year by year estimates of fragging incidents.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Regan, G. More Military Blunders. Carlton Books, 2004.
• (2003) Hedges, Chris. What Every Person Should Know About War. Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-5512-7.