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Friendly fire (or non-hostile fire) is a term originally adopted by the United States military in reference to an attack on friendly forces by other friendly forces, which may be deliberate (eg. incorrectly identifying the target as the enemy), or accidental (eg. missing the enemy and hitting "friendlies"). Friendly fire is contrasted with fire originating from enemy forces ("enemy fire"). In a friendly fire incident personnel may be killed, or material assets may be damaged or destroyed.

The British military refers to these incidents as blue on blue, which derives from wargaming exercises where friendly forces are "blue" and enemy forces are "red". The term fratricide may also be used, which technically refers to deliberate attacks upon one's own forces, but which is used as a synonym for accidental friendly fire in military bureaucratic writing and by the press, which echoes the language. Some prefer the term "fratricide" over "friendly fire", which is seen as an unfitting euphemism exemplified by the aphorism "there's nothing friendly about getting shot by your own side".

Contents 1 Classification 2 Friendly fire in the U.S. military 3 History 4 See also 5 Incidents and persons 6 External link

Classification

Friendly fire incidents fall roughly into two classes:

• the first is due to errors of position, where fire aimed at enemy forces accidentally ends up hitting one's own. Such incidents were relatively common during the first and second World Wars, where troops fought in close proximity and targeting was relatively inaccurate.

• the second class is due to errors of identification, where friendly troops are mistakenly attacked in the belief that they are enemy. This class has become comparatively more common in recent times, since greater weapon accuracy has diminished misfiring. Highly mobile battles, and battles involving troops from many nations are more likely to cause this kind of incident.

Friendly fire in the U.S. military

The Pentagon estimates of U.S. friendly fire deaths are:

• World War II: 21,000 (16%)
  • highest-ranking U.S. loss of the war, Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair
  • Sinking of the Surcouf by US planes
  • Sinking of the USS Dorado (SS-248) by US plane
  • Damage to the USS Atlanta (CL-51) by USS San Francisco
• Vietnam war: 8,000 (14%)
• Gulf War: 35 (23%)
• Invasion of Afghanistan (2002): 4 (13%)

History

Two French regiments accidentally attacking each other during the Battle of Fleurus led to the habit of attaching a white scarf to the flags of the regiments from 1690 - white being the colour of the kings of France.

See also

• Fragging, intentional killing of a friendly soldier, especially an officer or non-commissioned officer.
• identification friend or foe

Incidents and persons

• 1863 - Stonewall Jackson, famous Confederate Civil War general accidentally killed by his own troops at Chancellorsville.
• 1940 - Italian Air Marshal Italo Balbo shot down by his own side.
• 1994 - Erik Mounsey, peacekeeper and cousin of legendary guitarist Ian Bairnson memorialized in the 1996 Alan Parsons release On Air.
• 2002 - Afghanistan friendly fire incident, where four Canadian soldiers were accidentally killed by US military pilot Harry Schmidt.
• 2003 - Christopher Finney, British soldier awarded the George Cross for bravery under friendly fire during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
• 2004 - Pat Tillman, famous American football player and friendly fire victim in Afghanistan
• 2005 - Giuliana Sgrena, the Italian journalist who was almost killed by US troops after her liberation.

External link

• Friendly Fire Notebook, List of U.S. friendly fire incidents