Frag (military)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For a type of grenade see fragmentation grenade.

Frag is a term from the Vietnam War, most commonly meaning to assassinate an unpopular officer 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.

Fragging most often involved the murder 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 killed by their own troops, and as many as 1,400 other officers' deaths could not be explained^[1]. Incidents of fragging have been recorded as far back as the Battle of Blenheim.

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 trousers^[3].
• 2003 invasion of Iraq:
  • Hasan Akbar, a Muslim African-American soldier, threw grenades into a tent and then shot with a machine gun into the resulting chaos; two officers were killed, 14 soldiers wounded. As of 2007, Akbar was sentenced to death.
  • Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez, allegedly used an anti-personnel mine and grenades to kill two officers. As of 2007, he has yet to be court-martialed.[1]

[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.
• 1961-1973: GI resistance in the Vietnam War - Overview of the widespread mutiny of US troops during the war in Vietnam

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

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