Shaffer
06-02-03, 10:52 AM
ARLINGTON, Va. — The most significant failure of Operation Iraqi Freedom includes repeated incidents of “fratricide” because the Pentagon has yet to develop vehicle identification system to mark friendly vehicles, a senior Marine commander in southern Iraq said Friday.
Lt. Gen. James Conway, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, told Pentagon reporters that “blue-on-blue fratricide” — the military’s euphemism for troops accidentally attacking each other — “was probably my biggest disappointment of the war.”
During Desert Storm in 1991, 35 servicemembers were killed in fratricide incidents and 75 more were wounded — about 17 percent of the American casualties.
Many of those incidents were attributed to the combination of fast-moving U.S. forces, sandstorms, darkness, and heavy rain, and long-range, highly lethal weapons, such as M1A1 tanks, A-10 aircraft, and the Navy’s Phalanx Close-In Weapons System.
After Operation Desert Storm, U.S. military officials vowed to lessen the number of friendly fire incidents in future conflicts.
Billions of dollars have since been spent on various combat identification projects, some for air, some for ground.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=15833
Lt. Gen. James Conway, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, told Pentagon reporters that “blue-on-blue fratricide” — the military’s euphemism for troops accidentally attacking each other — “was probably my biggest disappointment of the war.”
During Desert Storm in 1991, 35 servicemembers were killed in fratricide incidents and 75 more were wounded — about 17 percent of the American casualties.
Many of those incidents were attributed to the combination of fast-moving U.S. forces, sandstorms, darkness, and heavy rain, and long-range, highly lethal weapons, such as M1A1 tanks, A-10 aircraft, and the Navy’s Phalanx Close-In Weapons System.
After Operation Desert Storm, U.S. military officials vowed to lessen the number of friendly fire incidents in future conflicts.
Billions of dollars have since been spent on various combat identification projects, some for air, some for ground.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=15833