[Poohbah]

Indiscipline, if not checked, will render any unit combat-ineffective very quickly--because the small bits of indiscipline

I know soldiers who served in the Americal Division in Vietnam. That unit got a reputation for beating prisoners (earned early, and maintained throughout their time in country), getting their a$$es kicked by the NVA (began to be earned after they settled into beating prisoners), and fragging officers who attempted to cure those unhappy conditions.

[muawiyah]

There's a lot of fiction in that "fragging" stuff ~ more of it had to do with ordinary crime than any sort of retaliation against officers trying to stop the troops from beating prisoners.

Still, as propaganda, it was marvelous. Kept the officers from screwing the troops more than necessary.