Fragging

An American term for the ancient practice of soldiers to register lethal disapproval of members of their own side with whatever comes to hand. In Vietnam this was the fragmentation grenade, from which the word is derived.

The historical incidence of the phenomenon cannot be known. On the one hand leadership from the front exposes the backs of officers to malcontents in their own ranks, but on the other the higher risks thereby incurred tend to strengthen the hope that the enemy may do the job. A classic illustration is the fate of a hated major at Blenheim, whose grenadiers punctiliously granted his request to take his chances with enemy bullets, and only shot him after the battle was over. A variant was the killing of the Anarchist Durruti during the Spanish civil war, by men who could no longer stand to be shamed by his suicidal bravery.

There have been groups of fighting men throughout history whose religious or cultural sensibilities were ignored by officers at their peril. The largest ‘fragging’ incident in history was the Indian Mutiny, provoked by just such a failure on the part of the East India Company, and while the empire lasted British officers of Arab, Sikh (see Sikh wars), or high-caste Hindu regiments who struck their men were regularly murdered. As a general rule the more intrinsically warlike peoples are the ones most likely to avenge offences against their honour without regard to subsequent punishment. Attempts to harness the energy of violently antisocial individuals for war have included the French and Spanish Foreign Legions and the Nazi and Soviet penal battalions of WW II, but the downside of this from the disciplinary point of view is self-evident.

Something more akin to vengeful despair was at work towards the end in Vietnam among those unwillingly in uniform and unwilling to be the last to die in a by-then pointless war. The system of exemptions told draftees that their society did not value them, long before this was made patent on their return home when they were spat upon by the exempt. Racial tensions in the greater society were magnified in the field, and the traditional glues of group pride and of winning honour among peers were perversely diluted by the posting of soldiers as individuals and the profligate award of medals to non-combatants. It is unremarkable that in excess of 1, 000 officers and NCOs were fragged.

— Hugh Bicheno

is a term first encountered during the latter years of the Vietnam War. It refers to the killing of officers and noncommissioned officers using fragmentation hand grenades, often thrown into a sleeping area at night. A broader definition encompasses murder by a variety of other means, including mines, shooting, and hit and run with a vehicle.

Instances of leaders being killed by subordinates have occurred in American forces since the Revolutionary War. Often the cause appeared to be concern for survival in a combat environment made more hazardous by a leader perceived to be incompetent or unconcerned with soldier welfare. Although records are incomplete, the rate of such incidents was relatively low until the Vietnam War, when fragging increased dramatically. The highest incidence in Vietnam occurred between 1968 and 1972. Most episodes were in the army and Marine Corps, especially among support and rear area units. There were approximately 830 actual and suspected fraggings in Vietnam, with the annual number peaking at 333 in 1971. Fragging declined significantly in 1972 as American troops were withdrawn.

The explanation for the fragging epidemic can be found in the interaction of two broad factors, one societal and the other organizational. Widespread and severe change and conflict emerged in American society during the period. This combined with unfortunate organizational policies and a demoralizing military strategy to produce an unprecedented internal crisis within U.S. forces, characterized by poor leadership and unit performance. An individual replacement system that rotated soldiers back to the U.S. after twelve months along with frequent reassignments within Vietnam had a strongly corrosive effect on unit‐leader bonding. In Vietnam, erosion of effective leadership, and the unraveling of unit cohesion exposed the forces in Southeast Asia to the full impact of drug abuse, racial conflict, and antiwar activism then rampant in the United States. Fragging was an unfortunate symptom of the internal crisis experienced by the U.S. military in Vietnam during this period.

[See also Morale, Troop.]

Bibliography

• Eugene Linden, The Demoralization of an Army; Fragging and Other Withdrawal Symptoms, Saturday Review (January1972).
• Guenter Lewy, American in Vietnam, 1978.
• W. D. Henderson, Cohesion: The Human Element in Combat, 1985