Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire. Neither is murder, whether premeditated or in the heat of the moment, nor is deliberate firing on one's own troops for disciplinary reasons, as in these cases there is no intent to harm the enemy. Similarly, inadvertent harm to non-combatants or structures, usually referred to as collateral damage, is also not considered to be friendly fire.
The term friendly fire was originally adopted by the United States military. Many North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) militaries refer to these incidents as blue on blue, which derives from military exercises where NATO forces were identified by blue pennants, hence "blue", and units representing Warsaw Pact forces were identified by orange pennants.
Read more about Friendly Fire: Addressing Friendly Fire, Historical Examples, Other Incidents
Famous quotes containing the words friendly and/or fire:
“America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room. Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair.”
—A.J. (Arnold Joseph)
“The mob is man voluntarily descending to the nature of the beast. Its fit hour of activity is night. Its actions are insane like its whole constitution. It persecutes a principle; it would whip a right; it would tar and feather justice, by inflicting fire and outrage upon the houses and persons of those who have these. It resembles the prank of boys, who run with fire-engines to put out the ruddy aurora streaming to the stars.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)