FNG syndrome
Encyclopedia
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, usually to refer to newcomers.
Vietnam War overview
Usually, but not always, the term referred to recruits fresh from the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who joined pre-existing units in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. Every unit had an FNG, and the term was used across all unit types, from front line combat through to support and medical
Combat medic
Combat medics are trained military personnel who are responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield. They are also responsible for providing continuing medical care in the absence of a readily available physician, including care for disease and battle injury...
units. The term was not gender specific; female personnel could be FNGs as well.
The FNG phenomenon grew out of the US Military's individual rotation policy during the Vietnam War, under which individual troops were rotated in and out in twelve-month tours with already deployed units in Vietnam. In other modern American wars before and since, military units have been maintained and have deployed as a whole. During this period, because of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the United States faced the need of maintaining a large presence of combat troops not only in Southeast Asia, but in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
and Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
as well. The Johnson administration lacked the political capital and will that would have been required to call up the National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...
and Reserves or to convince Congress to extend the tours of duty of draftees beyond twenty-four months. Lacking sufficient Army and Marine ground combat units to sustain a unit-based rotation strategy, the individual rotation policy was adopted.
FNGs were an important part of the group dynamic
Group dynamics
Group dynamics refers to a system of behaviors and psychological processes that occur within a social group , or between social groups...
of US units in Vietnam and their treatment had at its core an overall sense of "us" (those with experience of the war) and "them" (those who were back in the United States). As one soldier said, FNGs were "still shitting stateside chow". It was in combat units that the FNG was truly ignored and hated by his fellow soldiers. An FNG in a combat unit was "treated as a non-person, a pariah to be shunned and scorned, almost vilified, until he passed that magic, unseen line to respectability".
On the surface, such treatment of new members in the unit happened for simple survival reasons. New recruits had a higher attrition
Attrition warfare
Attrition warfare is a military strategy in which a belligerent side attempts to win a war by wearing down its enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and matériel....
rate than experienced troops, and the small units of veteran jungle warfare
Jungle warfare
Jungle warfare is a term used to cover the special techniques needed for military units to survive and fight in jungle terrain.It has been the topic of extensive study by military strategists, and was an important part of the planning for both sides in many conflicts, including World War II and the...
troops simply saw them as a liability. "They talked too loud and made too much noise while moving around, didn't know what to take into the bush or even how to wear it properly, couldn't respond to basic combat commands, fired too much ammo, and tended to flake out on even the easiest 10-klick moves. An' Christ, they even got homesick."
Beyond mere survival though, there were deeper reasons for veterans to hate the newcomers. On one level, the FNG represented those men who were still in America and this fomented resentment. As one popular marching song
Military cadence
In the armed services, a military cadence or cadence call is a traditional call-and-response work song sung by military personnel while running or marching...
of the era went: Ain't no use in lookin' back, |Jodys got your Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
; Ain't no use in going home, Jody's got your girl and gone. Until they set foot in Vietnam, every FNG was a "Jody", back in the US enjoying life.
Within a military unit, the FNG was seen as a grunt. A unit would attach an almost mystical quality to any members of the unit with prior combat experience; the FNG was expected to live up to the same standard and would not be accepted into the group until he too had made a name for himself.
The term is still used today in the United States Navy, Marines, as well as the Canadian Military.
Studies
Several specific studies have been undertaken into the FNG phenomenon. Prominent military psychiatrists warned that the individual replacement system was having catastrophic consequences on unit cohesionUnit cohesion
Unit cohesion is a military concept, defined by one former United States Chief of staff in the early 1980s as "the bonding together of soldiers in such a way as to sustain their will and commitment to each other, the unit, and mission accomplishment, despite combat or mission stress"...
.
Dr. Douglas R. Bey published "Group dynamics and the "F.N.G." in Vietnam—a potential focus of stress" in 1972 and has been referenced extensively, including having been used in defence of initiation practices within modern US units.
Dr. Charles Figley
Charles Figley
Charles Figley is a university professor in the fields of psychology, family studies, social work, traumatology, and mental health. He is the Paul Henry Kurzweg, MD Distinguished Chair in Disaster Mental Health and Graduate School of Social Work Professor at Tulane University Charles Figley is a...
has also written on the effects of being an FNG as part of the development of post traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans.
Media and entertainment
The term FNG and the group dynamics associated with it have been addressed on some level in several major motion pictures in the last couple of decades and is still used in the US military.Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
's film Platoon
Platoon (film)
Platoon is a 1986 American war film written and directed by Oliver Stone and stars Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe and Charlie Sheen. It is the first of Stone's Vietnam War trilogy, followed by 1989's Born on the Fourth of July and 1993's Heaven & Earth....
traces the experiences of young recruit Private Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
) during the Vietnam War.
In Robert Zemeckis
Robert Zemeckis
Robert Lee Zemeckis is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Zemeckis first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of the comedic time-travel Back to the Future film series, as well as the Academy Award-winning live-action/animation epic Who Framed Roger Rabbit ,...
's film Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise...
, the titular character (Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
) and his best friend Bubba (Mykelti Williamson
Mykelti Williamson
Michael T. "Mykelti" Williamson is an American actor best known for his role as Benjamin Buford Blue in the 1994 film Forrest Gump, as Detective Bobby "Fearless" Smith in the critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful crime drama Boomtown, and recently for appearing as the head of CTU for...
) are called FNGs by their commanding officer (Gary Sinise
Gary Sinise
Gary Alan Sinise is an American actor, film director and musician. During his career, Sinise has won various awards including an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1992, Sinise directed, and played the role of George Milton in the successful film adaptation of...
) when they first arrive in Vietnam.
The backpacker novel The Beach
The Beach (novel)
The Beach is a novel by Alex Garland about backpackers in Thailand. Influenced by such literary works as Heart of Darkness and Lord of the Flies, it describes the adventures of a young Englishman in search of and on a legendary, idyllic beach untouched by tourism.-Plot summary:In a cheap hostel on...
by Alex Garland
Alex Garland
Alexander Medawar "Alex" Garland is a British novelist and screenwriter.-Early life:Garland was born in London, England, the son of psychoanalyst Caroline and political cartoonist Nicholas Garland. His maternal grandparents were zoologist Peter Medawar and author Jean Medawar...
, later made into a film
The Beach (film)
The Beach is a 2000 adventure drama film directed by Danny Boyle and based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Alex Garland, which was adapted for the film by John Hodge. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and features Tilda Swinton, Robert Carlyle, Virginie Ledoyen and Guillaume Canet...
of the same title and directed by Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle
Daniel "Danny" Boyle is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Trainspotting. For Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle won numerous awards in 2008, including the Academy Award for Best Director...
, introduced the term into popular culture amongst young tourists in South East Asia.
Donald Bodey has written a fictional account of the FNG experience in his novel titled simply "FNG".
In first episode ("Get Some") of the HBO series Generation Kill Lance Cpl. Trombley's fellow marines refer to him as an FNG during the mess hall scene as he was improperly attired, wearing his boonie hat
Boonie hat
A boonie hat, also known as a bush hat, is a form of wide-brim hat commonly used by military forces. Its design is similar to a bucket hat but with a stiffer brim. Often a fabric tape band of 'branch loops' is sewn around the crown of the hat. This 'foliage ring' is meant to hold additional...
after dark.
In the film Shooter, the people at FBI headquarters call Nick Memphis an F.N.G.
FNG is a half-hour lifestyle show on the Pentagon Channel
Pentagon Channel
The Pentagon Channel is a TV channel broadcasting military news and information for the 2.6 million members of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is widely available on US Public, educational, and government access cable tv channels, can be viewed FTA in most Central and Western European countries ,...
featuring useful benefits aimed at young troops new to the military.
The term is used in the Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
second season episode "Scar
Scar (Battlestar Galactica)
"Scar" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series. It aired originally on the Sci Fi Channel on February 3, 2006....
", with the F standing for the fictional expletive "frakking".
In the movie District 9
District 9
District 9 is a 2009 South African science fiction thriller film directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James...
, the term is used by one of the mercenaries to describe Wikus.
In the game "Call Of Duty 4", FNG is the name of the first mission which involves training for a new soldier, Soap Mactavish
John MacTavish
John "Soap" MacTavish, is a Scottish fictional character and one of the two main protagonists in the Modern Warfare series of the Call of Duty game franchise...
.
In the game "Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops is a first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch, published by Activision and released worldwide on November 9, for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii consoles, with a separate version for Nintendo DS developed by n-Space. Announced on April 30, 2010,...
", when a user begins playing online multi-player, their starting clan name is FNG (Fucking New Guy) because its the first time they have played.