Marines in Iraq are operating constantly, which includes operations at night. In close environments, and with limited visibility, such as urban terrain, Marines need to be able to identify their fellow Marines to avoid friendly fire. The use of night-vision goggles and new identifying technology makes it easier to differentiate between friend and foe at night. Non-hostile fire incidents, commonly known as friendly-fire, are perhaps the most tragic and costly of all potential battlefield mishaps and hazards. In Operation Enduring Freedom, friendly-fire has caused several high-profile combat deaths. During the major combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom (March 2003 – May 2003), friendly-fire incidents had accounted for approximately 18 percent of all combat deaths. This figure represents an improvement over Operation Desert Storm, a conflict in which friendly-fire accounted for 24 percent of U.S. service member casualties. Unfortunately, friendly-fire incidents are a tragic reality of modern warfare, and it is doubtful that fratricide ever can be totally erased; however, it is morally and strategically incumbent upon the powers that be to aggressively confront the issue.
Combat-identification (combat-ID) systems are the primary means by which military forces seek to maximize their operational effectiveness, while simultaneously reducing friendly-fire. According to an Aug. 5, 2005, article on MSNBC.com, “Battling Friendly-Fire,” by Michael Moran, “Improvements in command and control systems, training and the deployment of primitive ‘blue force tracking’ systems, like reflective tape on coalition soldiers, are credited with helping to lower the friendly fire rate during the push on Baghdad.”