A Ghost of Vietnam: Fragging Returns

[thedrifter]

06.24.2005
A Ghost of Vietnam: Fragging Returns
By Ray Starmann

On the evening of June 7, 2005, Capt. Phillip Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis Allen of HHC, 42nd Infantry Division, NYARNG, were relaxing inside a room at Forward Operating Base Danger in Tikrit, Iraq, when they were killed by what U.S. officials first thought was mortar fire.

But after an investigation, it was determined that Esposito, the company commander, and Allen, its executive officer, were not killed by the enemy, but by one of their own men – Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez, who has been charged with two counts of premeditated murder. The deaths of the two National Guard officers seemed to signal the return of a horrific problem that haunted the Army in Vietnam: fragging.

The slang term "fragging" originated during the Vietnam War. It was used to describe the killing of strict, unpopular, incompetent or aggressive officers and NCOs. The perpetrators often used fragmentation grenades to kill their leaders.

By the early 1970s, the Army in Vietnam was in a state of virtual chaos. Between 1969 and 1971, records show that 82 officers and NCOs were killed by their own men and another 651 wounded. The frag incidents were a harbinger of a much more serious problem. The Armed Forces Journal reported in 1971:

"The morale, discipline and battle worthiness of the U.S. Armed Forces are, with a few salient exceptions, lower and worse than at any time in the century and possibly in the history of the United States. By every conceivable indicator, our Army that now remains in Vietnam is in a state approaching collapse, with individual units avoiding or having refused combat, murdering their officers and non-commissioned officers, drug-ridden and dispirited where not near mutinous. Elsewhere than Vietnam, the situation is nearly as serious."

This recent incident in Iraq is actually the second fragging event since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in March 2003. Two years ago on the eve of the invasion, Sgt. Hasan Akbar of the 101st Airborne(Air Assault) Division rolled a hand grenade into a tent that housed his sleeping comrades in Kuwait. Akbar killed two officers and wounded another 14 soldiers before he was captured.

Are both of these incidents a sign of deepening problems in the Army?

The soldiers in Iraq now are mostly young and often frightened. Their fear varies from a daily gnawing anxiety to absolute terror. This daily fear is compounded with the fact that many of them do not have any idea of when they will be returning home. The Army has often extended and re-extended individual and unit tours in an endless war without an ETS date. Soldiers may be growing disillusioned with the "cause" of bringing freedom to people who have never known it. It is a concept as abstract as anything to be found in a professor's classroom. Most of them probably avoid thinking about it, with their focus being on their jobs and personal survival.

Investigations have shown that soldiers frag their leaders because they believe their officers or NCOs are so incompetent or overly-zealous that their actions will get people killed. It is usually an act of desperation and a result of a complete and utter breakdown in military discipline.

Another source of concern is this: Our soldiers today are from a largely undisciplined society that preaches an "anything goes" attitude. This attitude has gradually filtered into the once "yes sir, no sir, three bags full" U.S. Army. Because of ridiculous social engineering efforts, basic training has become nothing more than an eight-week day care operation. Where basic training used to instill the rudimentary principles of military obedience and discipline, the only thing it instills now in combat support and service support recruits is the sensitivity SOP.

Gen. Dick Cavazos once said that the Army is composed of "killers, fillers and fodder." The Army still has its share of tough killers. The problem is that the fillers and fodder are growing in number.

Hack must be looking down from his observation post on the eternal battlefield and shaking his head. He consistently predicted that the Army's coddling of recruits and decline in discipline would result in severe problems for the lean green machine. Disciplined soldiers do not frag their officers. A rabble does. Is our Army becoming a rabble? Perhaps not yet, but it could still happen if the Army doesn't begin to address its growing tribulations.

Obviously, the Army's problems in Iraq are not nearly as out of control as they were in Vietnam. Two events do not make a crisis. Still, they are an omen of things to come if Army leaders do not make the necessary changes. The Army must return to the tough basic training that was once a rite of passage for soldiers. Coed basic training must be stopped. The spirit of the bayonet must be instilled in all soldiers, not just combat arms personnel.

Other than to fulfill the dreams of militant feminists, the integration of women into MOS's once deemed off-limits has done absolutely nothing to improve the esprit de corps and combat readiness of the Army. Women in the Army have become a combat divider. Even more importantly, the Pentagon must devise accurate tour dates for active, reserve and national guard troopers. It is critical that soldiers know exactly how long they will be serving in harm's way. In World War II, the motto was Normandy, Paris, Berlin and home. In Vietnam, soldiers knew they had a year in country and a wake-up. In Iraq, there is only a stop-loss, an extension and yet another stop-loss.

Finally, someone in a senior leadership position must realize that soldiers in combat zones need R and R. Video games, books, and softball are not enough to alleviate the needs of young warriors.

From 1975 to 1990, a cadre of Vietnam veterans still wearing their combat scars set out to rebuild a U.S. Army still recovering from the trauma of Vietnam. Men such as Fred Franks, Colin Powell, Barry McCaffrey and Norman Schwarzkopf had all seen the Army in shambles and vowed that they would never let it happen again. And the Army that they unleashed on Saddam Hussein in February 1991 was an institution that neither they nor anyone else would have recognized just 16 years earlier when Saigon fell.

It is up to the captains and majors of Operation Desert Storm – who today are rising into positions of command and leadership in the service, who must do what it takes to ensure that that the U.S. Army of 1975 does not return to the battlefield.

Ellie

[radio relay]

Trying to dredge up anything negative to smear the military, ain't they?

This one incident, and all of a sudden it's a big problem.

Let's see... the war had not even begun, and Army officers were killed by a grenade rolled into their command tent. Wasn't that "fragging"?!?!? Why not a story about how fragging was raising it's ugly head when that happened?

Guess it isn't "fragging" when a muslim does it (on either side).
==============================

Also, "fragging" was not a "problem" in Vietnam, and never was. It happened very, very infrequently, and usually by forces from our so-called allies (like the Koreans fragging American PX's), when it did occur. However, the scum in the media made sure it was blown out of proportion to what was actually happening, because it served their purpose to slime the military, and the great kids serving in it!

And... soldiers killing their fellow soldiers, and using the convenience of battle to cover and disguise the act, has happened in every conflict since the days of cave men. It's is not an indication of a trend. Nor, is it a reflection on the men and women serving!!!

I think any moral, clear thinking, patriotic person who claims democRATic affiliation needs to seriously reconsider their party affiliation. Considering the way that this current crew of democRATS has decided that denigrating the military would be the best road back into power.

The democRATS are absolutely shamefull, and the media needs to shut up!

[dibob]

MARINES AND MILITARY LAW IN VIETNAM: Trial By Fire, by LtCol. Gary D. Solis, reports that during the Vietnam War, the 1st Marine Division had 47 fragging incidents with one Marine killed and 43 injured. The Army had 271 incidents with 34 soldiers killed.