Near Fratricide
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- Good Soldiers Never Die
- Posts: 1009
- Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:36 pm
- Your Gulf War Unit: 24th Infantry Division, 197th Infantry Brigage, 72 Engr Co.
- Location: North Carolina
Near Fratricide
I remember at some point we were in a bit of a long wide wadi. I may have been just a low area. We came to a stop. I do not recall why. We were in an area where a previous battle had occurred. There were some dead Iraqi's around. Some how we became aware of a pocket of RGF just over the horizon. A small detachment was sent out and discovered they were surrendering and were all wounded. I was back in our make shift perimeter where we had all dug in as best we could and facing outward no knowing how the RGF group were going to behave. They were still over the horizon from us.
Suddenly over the horizon comes a group of soldiers running toward us. I had sited in on one of them and removed my safety. Visibility was poor I could only see silhouettes coming at us. I was finger on trigger, squeezing toward fire when I realized the on running soldiers were some of ours.
Suddenly over the horizon comes a group of soldiers running toward us. I had sited in on one of them and removed my safety. Visibility was poor I could only see silhouettes coming at us. I was finger on trigger, squeezing toward fire when I realized the on running soldiers were some of ours.
Shield/Storm
18th Airborne Corps
24th Infantry Division
197th Infantry 72 ENGR CO
Assault and Barrier Pltn
"Sledgehammer"
18th Airborne Corps
24th Infantry Division
197th Infantry 72 ENGR CO
Assault and Barrier Pltn
"Sledgehammer"
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- Lifer
- Posts: 874
- Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 8:41 am
- Your Gulf War Unit: 3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
- Location: Missouri
Re: Near Fratricide
Close ...
Desert Shield/Desert Storm/Cease Fire
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!
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- Good Soldiers Never Die
- Posts: 1009
- Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:36 pm
- Your Gulf War Unit: 24th Infantry Division, 197th Infantry Brigage, 72 Engr Co.
- Location: North Carolina
Re: Near Fratricide
I've read several accounts of actual incidents of Bradleys being engaged by M1s causing several deaths and a number of injuries. Forget where I read them. Was a good read. We can understand the confusion and chaos involved. Hate it for the guys involved.
Shield/Storm
18th Airborne Corps
24th Infantry Division
197th Infantry 72 ENGR CO
Assault and Barrier Pltn
"Sledgehammer"
18th Airborne Corps
24th Infantry Division
197th Infantry 72 ENGR CO
Assault and Barrier Pltn
"Sledgehammer"
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- Lifer
- Posts: 874
- Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 8:41 am
- Your Gulf War Unit: 3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
- Location: Missouri
Re: Near Fratricide
Yeah ... I had a similar experience ... didn't fire but was damn close ... too close.
Desert Shield/Desert Storm/Cease Fire
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!
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- Good Soldiers Never Die
- Posts: 1009
- Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:36 pm
- Your Gulf War Unit: 24th Infantry Division, 197th Infantry Brigage, 72 Engr Co.
- Location: North Carolina
Re: Near Fratricide
I can easily imagine how it happens. Media makes a big deal out of it and people who have not been there can't understand. I wonder how frequently it did happen and went unknown or un reported. Couldn't be too much cuz the casualty count would have been higher. But.......
Shield/Storm
18th Airborne Corps
24th Infantry Division
197th Infantry 72 ENGR CO
Assault and Barrier Pltn
"Sledgehammer"
18th Airborne Corps
24th Infantry Division
197th Infantry 72 ENGR CO
Assault and Barrier Pltn
"Sledgehammer"
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- Lifer
- Posts: 874
- Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 8:41 am
- Your Gulf War Unit: 3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
- Location: Missouri
Re: Near Fratricide
I've read about a couple of actual fratricide incidents, but I have no clue about how many close calls there were ... I have personal knowledge of three close calls and personal experience with two. I wasn't trigger happy by no stretch ... I wanted to make damn sure what I was shooting at before I pulled the trigger ... but damn, talk about scared.
Desert Shield/Desert Storm/Cease Fire
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!
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- Good Soldiers Never Die
- Posts: 1009
- Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:36 pm
- Your Gulf War Unit: 24th Infantry Division, 197th Infantry Brigage, 72 Engr Co.
- Location: North Carolina
Re: Near Fratricide
Did y'all have big orange markers on top of your trax to help keep from being engaged from the air by mistake?
Shield/Storm
18th Airborne Corps
24th Infantry Division
197th Infantry 72 ENGR CO
Assault and Barrier Pltn
"Sledgehammer"
18th Airborne Corps
24th Infantry Division
197th Infantry 72 ENGR CO
Assault and Barrier Pltn
"Sledgehammer"
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- Lifer
- Posts: 874
- Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 8:41 am
- Your Gulf War Unit: 3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
- Location: Missouri
Re: Near Fratricide
If I remember correctly we had a big inverted V painted on the sides of our tracks and vehicles. The panel markers came later. I don't remember when, some after a couple days of the ground fight. When we did the passage of lines at night, we marked our stuff with chem lights.
Desert Shield/Desert Storm/Cease Fire
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!
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- Good Soldiers Never Die
- Posts: 1009
- Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:36 pm
- Your Gulf War Unit: 24th Infantry Division, 197th Infantry Brigage, 72 Engr Co.
- Location: North Carolina
Re: Near Fratricide
We had the inverted "V" too. I thought that was for the "Victory" division. The 24th infantry division. No wonder I saw that everywhere.
Shield/Storm
18th Airborne Corps
24th Infantry Division
197th Infantry 72 ENGR CO
Assault and Barrier Pltn
"Sledgehammer"
18th Airborne Corps
24th Infantry Division
197th Infantry 72 ENGR CO
Assault and Barrier Pltn
"Sledgehammer"
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- Lifer
- Posts: 874
- Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 8:41 am
- Your Gulf War Unit: 3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
- Location: Missouri
Re: Near Fratricide
I don't know why the inverted V was chosen, just what we were told to paint on our vehicles. 24th got there before us, so maybe we just adopted what was already there.
Desert Shield/Desert Storm/Cease Fire
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!
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- Soldier
- Posts: 93
- Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 3:06 am
- Your Gulf War Unit: HHB 2/1 FA 1ST AD
- Location: Michigan
Re: Near Fratricide
Yup, inverted V's on the sides and back and orange aircraft panels up top, and I.R. chem lights on the antennas. Fortunately, they only had BMP's and not any of our 113's. They did use some of our 109's though, which could've created a mess. We even captured a nice one to replace on of ours that blew a pack. Funny mustard yellow instead of tan. It went to the 1st A.D. museum in Germany along with a T-72 we captured.
HHB 2/1 FA 1ST AD, 4/70 AR FIST, Pinder Brrks 90-91
260th FA DET FIST/ Air Assault Instructor, Fort Rucker 91-92
HHT 2/11 ACR, Wildflecken 92-93
HHB 1/5 FA 1ST ID, Fort Riley 93-94
HHB 1/119 FA, 3/126 AAS, Michigan National Gaurd 94-97
260th FA DET FIST/ Air Assault Instructor, Fort Rucker 91-92
HHT 2/11 ACR, Wildflecken 92-93
HHB 1/5 FA 1ST ID, Fort Riley 93-94
HHB 1/119 FA, 3/126 AAS, Michigan National Gaurd 94-97
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- Good Soldiers Never Die
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Re: Near Fratricide
Redleg13f2h wrote:Yup, inverted V's on the sides and back and orange aircraft panels up top, and I.R. chem lights on the antennas. Fortunately, they only had BMP's and not any of our 113's. They did use some of our 109's though, which could've created a mess. We even captured a nice one to replace on of ours that blew a pack. Funny mustard yellow instead of tan. It went to the 1st A.D. museum in Germany along with a T-72 we captured.
They had 113's, we cannibalized a couple for torque converters to get 1 of our M577's back up and running, that thing went through 3, I think, converters over a 3 month period. 1 of them had been hit by an Abrams and our mechs had to work on it with remains inside.
Dagger X-Ray - ARMY
(12/91 - present) - miss the service
(9/90 - 12/91) 2nd Bde 1st Infantry Division - Desert Shield / Desert Storm Combat VET
(9/88 - 9/90) C-17th Signal Battalion of 22nd Signal Brigade - Sachsenhausen Bar Scene VET
(4/88 - 9/88) AIT Fort Gordon, Ga
(12/87 - 3/88) Basic Training Fort Jackson, SC

(12/91 - present) - miss the service
(9/90 - 12/91) 2nd Bde 1st Infantry Division - Desert Shield / Desert Storm Combat VET
(9/88 - 9/90) C-17th Signal Battalion of 22nd Signal Brigade - Sachsenhausen Bar Scene VET
(4/88 - 9/88) AIT Fort Gordon, Ga
(12/87 - 3/88) Basic Training Fort Jackson, SC
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
-George Orwell
-George Orwell
"I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight."
- General George Patton
- General George Patton

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- Lifer
- Posts: 874
- Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 8:41 am
- Your Gulf War Unit: 3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
- Location: Missouri
Re: Near Fratricide
577s were hard on the torque converters because of all the extra crap they got stuffed with. Most every 577 that I saw during my 20 years was grossly overloaded.
Desert Shield/Desert Storm/Cease Fire
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!
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- Soldier
- Posts: 93
- Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 3:06 am
- Your Gulf War Unit: HHB 2/1 FA 1ST AD
- Location: Michigan
Re: Near Fratricide
At least it wasn't a friendly 113 with our guys inside, eh?
HHB 2/1 FA 1ST AD, 4/70 AR FIST, Pinder Brrks 90-91
260th FA DET FIST/ Air Assault Instructor, Fort Rucker 91-92
HHT 2/11 ACR, Wildflecken 92-93
HHB 1/5 FA 1ST ID, Fort Riley 93-94
HHB 1/119 FA, 3/126 AAS, Michigan National Gaurd 94-97
260th FA DET FIST/ Air Assault Instructor, Fort Rucker 91-92
HHT 2/11 ACR, Wildflecken 92-93
HHB 1/5 FA 1ST ID, Fort Riley 93-94
HHB 1/119 FA, 3/126 AAS, Michigan National Gaurd 94-97
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- Lifer
- Posts: 874
- Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 8:41 am
- Your Gulf War Unit: 3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
- Location: Missouri
Re: Near Fratricide
I remember seeing a couple of 113s that had been hit by something big. One was in a crater but wasn't damaged ... didn't know if they drove off into the crater or what, but it was Iraqi and it had no personell inside. Had a more destroyed shit around it, but it was not damaged.
Desert Shield/Desert Storm/Cease Fire
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!
3rd Bn 17th Field Artillery
210th FA Bde
DS (OPCON) 3/2 ACR, GS 1 ID
FIRE MISSION!