Fragging

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In the U.S. military, fragging refers to the act of attacking a superior officer with a fragmentation grenade.^[1] The term originated in the Vietnam War and was most commonly used to mean assassination of an unpopular officer of one's own fighting unit, often by means of a fragmentation grenade, hence the term. Although the term is derived from the grenade, the act was more commonly committed with firearms during combat in Vietnam.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Description 2 Reasons 3 Notable incidents 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Description

A hand grenade was often used^{[citation needed]} because it would not leave any fingerprints, and because a ballistics test could not be performed (as it could to match a bullet with a firearm). The grenade would often be thrown into the officer's tent while he slept.^{[citation needed]}

Sometimes the intended victim would be 'warned' by first having a smoke grenade thrown into his tent. If he persisted in antagonizing his men, this would be followed by a stun grenade, and finally by a fragmentation grenade.^{[citation needed]}

A fragging victim could also be killed by intentional "friendly fire" during combat.^{[citation needed]} In this case, the death would be blamed on the enemy, and, because of the dead man's unpopularity, the perpetrator could assume that no one would contradict the story.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Reasons

Fragging most often involved the murder of a commanding officer (C.O.) or a senior noncommissioned officer^{[citation needed]} perceived as unpopular, harsh, inept, or overzealous. Many soldiers were not overly keen to go into harm's way, and preferred leaders with a similar sense of self-preservation. 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. Junior officers in turn could arrange the murder of senior officers when finding them incompetent or wasting their men's lives needlessly. Underground GI newspapers sometimes listed bounties offered by units for the fragging of unpopular commanding officers.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[2] Incidents of fragging have been recorded as far back as the 18th century Battle of Blenheim.

[edit] Notable incidents

• 1704 – Battle of Blenheim: An unpopular major of the 15th Regiment of Foot was shot in the head by his own men after the battle had been won.^[3]
• 1815 – Battle of Quatre Bras: The commander of the 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot, Colonel John Cameron of Fassfern, was shot and killed by a man whom he had recently flogged.^[3]
• 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.^[4]
• Vietnam War: After the My Lai Massacre, when interviewed by investigators, soldiers serving under Lieutenant William L. Calley Jr. disliked him so much that they considered fragging him.^[5]
• Iraq war:
  • Shortly after the start of the war in 2003, US Army Sergeant Hasan Akbar threw hand grenades into a tent containing sleeping troops and fired his rifle in the ensuing confusion, thereby killing two officers at a military base in Kuwait.
  • Captain Phillip Esposito and 1st Lieutenant Louis Allen were killed on June 7, 2005, by a Claymore mine placed on Esposito's office window at Forward Operating Base Danger in Tikrit, Iraq. The unit's supply sergeant was charged with the murder, but was subsequently acquitted at courts martial.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Frag (video gaming)
• Mutiny
• Fratricide
• Friendly fire
• Platoon (film)

[edit] References

[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.
• Harass the Brass: some notes on the subversion of the US Armed Forces. "Love and Treason" web page