# Does the military term "fieldstripping" mean "tearing up smoked cigarettes"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629 "2004-05-05T13:14:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/1 "2004-05-05T13:14:02Z")
[Re this article about Colin Powell.](http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/05-04-2004/0002166707&EDATE=) I always thought it meant tearing down your weapon or equipment for service or maintenance in the field. > [@](#): > > Armitage on Powell’s preparation for his U.N. presentation: “Four days! > And three nights! The secretary is a man of honor! He values being credible. > To be credible, you have to be able to stand behind what you say. That’s why > he fieldstripped it.” Armitage refers to the process, common in Vietnam, of > tearing up smoked cigarettes so they will decompose quickly and leave no trace > for the enemy. “On the last day and night [at the CIA], the secretary called > me, and he said, ‘I need a little extra reinforcement.’ So I went out there > and spent Sunday and Saturday night with him. He needed someone. He was the > voice throwing everything out, and he wanted another loud voice at the table.” ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/2 "2004-05-05T13:17:05Z")
It does mean what you say, but I can see how that is carried over to breaking something down into it’s basic components for some purpose (like cigarette disposal). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/3 "2004-05-05T13:26:24Z")
[American Heritage® Dictionary definition:](http://www.bartleby.com/61/8/F0110800.html) > [@](#): > > 1. To disassemble (a weapon) for cleaning, repair, or inspection. 2. To leave no trace of (a cigarette butt) by rolling up the paper and scattering the tobacco. I concur with **UncleBill** , it probably is derived from the weapon usage, as in disassembling. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/4 "2004-05-06T02:36:10Z")
My Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang cite it first from 1945 in a quote about a US serviceman who “fieldstripped” a _Jap_ for war souvenirs. Then a 1947 cite about taking apart a gun. The first cigarette quote is 1963. ---
**Author:** ![olefin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d78d45/32.png) [@olefin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/olefin)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/5 "2004-05-06T02:55:35Z")
Field-stripping a cigarette butt was very common in 1952… I learn that the first day of basic training in the USAF. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Metoonow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@Metoonow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metoonow)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/6 "2016-09-09T21:07:42Z")
The gentleman was correct about ‘field stripping cigarettes.’ He was AF while I was Army and I too learned it in Basic (Basic Combat Training for Army). The idea was part of training to not leave evidence of who had been in an area. American cigarettes would be a giveaway to the enemy that Americans had been in an area. You were not to leave trash that could lead back to you or your unit. Field stripping a cigarette was a quick way of ‘getting rid of the evidence.’ When filters came along, the job was harder 🙂 I am certain that the idea dates back to at least WWII. Even on Post (Army for Base), you did that so to not litter. Field Stripping also applied to weapons. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/7 "2016-09-09T21:47:45Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > My Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang cite it first from 1945 in a quote about a US serviceman who “fieldstripped” a _Jap_ for war souvenirs. God, I hope that meant taking parts of his uniform and/or weapons, and not the image that immediately occurred to me. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/8 "2016-09-09T22:04:31Z")
My dad was in the Army at the end of WW II. He spoke of tearing up cigarettes on a military base as part of “policing the area”, especially the parade ground. So, apparently the practice is older than calling it fieldstripping. Perhaps the practice of doing that dates back to the birth of smoking among soldiers. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/9 "2016-09-09T22:18:45Z")
> [@olefin](#): > > Field-stripping a cigarette butt was very common in 1952… I learn that the first day of basic training in the USAF. :smack: It was common in 1981 as well … ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/10 "2016-09-09T23:16:16Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > My Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang cite it first from 1945 in a quote about a US serviceman who “fieldstripped” a _Jap_ for war souvenirs. > > Then a 1947 cite about taking apart a gun. > > The first cigarette quote is 1963. My copy of the 1943 Basic Manual of Military Small Arms makes explicit and frequent reference to “field stripping” as the practice of disassembling firearms for basic maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/11 "2016-09-10T00:10:44Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > My Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang cite it first from 1945 in a quote about a US serviceman who “fieldstripped” a _Jap_ for war souvenirs. > > Then a 1947 cite about taking apart a gun. > > The first cigarette quote is 1963. Here’s a [1931 cite](https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Fd8mAQAAMAAJ&dq=fieldstripping&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=field+stripping)for taking apart a gun. And a [1950 cite](https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_DgPAQAAIAAJ&dq=fieldstripped+smoking&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=field+stripped+)for smoking. Also a [1954 cite](https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=S58GAQAAIAAJ&dq=fieldstripped+smoking&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=field+stripped+). And a possible [1944 one](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=fieldstripped+cigarette&biw=1150&bih=580&source=lnt&tbs=sbd%3A1%2Ccdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A01%2F01%2F1800%2Ccd_max%3A31%2F12%2F1949&tbm=bks). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/12 "2016-09-10T01:33:53Z")
Leon Uris mentions field-stripping cigarettes in his 1953 novel **Battle Cry!** ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/13 "2016-09-10T01:35:59Z")
“Policing an area” means removing all of the litter in it, but it does not imply tearing up any of the litter. If you’re policing an area and find cigarette butts, then you carry them back to the garbage can and throw them in whole, which is a lot easier. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/14 "2016-09-10T01:41:12Z")
21st century soldier, here. It means both taking apart a weapon and ripping up cigarette butts. The fastest way to do it is to rub it against a tree trunk. The butt, that is. The _cigarette_ butt, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/15 "2016-09-10T03:31:02Z")
My father enlisted in the Army before WWII and was in for the duration. He always field stripped his cigarettes after smoking outdoors and referred to it as such. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/16 "2016-09-10T04:07:39Z")
Question asked and answered, but I’ll also add, that in my time in the U.S. Army, “fieldstripping” was also slang used to indicate the breaking down to subcomponents of…anything, and it was understood by context. “Fieldstripping” was, essentially, breaking anything down to its basic components, whether you were rebuilding an engine, pulling all portable equipment off of your vehicle for cleaning/inspection, to breaking down a statement/argument for debate. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/17 "2016-09-10T11:52:59Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > God, I hope that meant taking parts of his uniform and/or weapons, and not the image that immediately occurred to me. No, it could mean [exactly what you thought](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_mutilation_of_Japanese_war_dead). ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/18 "2016-09-10T11:53:51Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > God, I hope that meant taking parts of his uniform and/or weapons, and not the image that immediately occurred to me. Unfortunately the image that occurred to you was probably correct (not knowing exactly what that image was). Collecting gold teeth and body parts as souvenirs was a common practice, so much so that Nimitz had to issue a directive as early as September 1942 that “No part of the enemy’s body may be used as a souvenir”, and any American servicemen violating that principle would face “stern disciplinary action”, but it did little to stem the practice. [This](http://time.com/3880997/young-woman-with-jap-skull-portrait-of-a-grisly-wwii-memento/) was the Life Magazine picture of the week on May 22, 1944, the caption reads “Arizona war worker writes her Navy boyfriend a thank-you-note for the Jap skull he sent her.” Wiki article on the practice [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_mutilation_of_Japanese_war_dead). It has a rather gruesome paragraph from E. B. Sledge’s memoirs, _With the Old Breed_: > [@](#): > > Eugene Sledge relates a few instances of fellow Marines extracting gold teeth from the Japanese, including one from an enemy soldier who was still alive. > But the Japanese wasn’t dead. He had been wounded severely in the back and couldn’t move his arms; otherwise he would have resisted to his last breath. The Japanese’s mouth glowed with huge gold-crowned teeth, and his captor wanted them. He put the point of his kabar [combat knife] on the base of a tooth and hit the handle with the palm of his hand. Because the Japanese was kicking his feet and thrashing about, the knife point glanced off the tooth and sank deeply into the victim’s mouth. The Marine cursed him and with a slash cut his cheeks open to each ear. He put his foot on the sufferer’s lower jaw and tried again. Blood poured out of the soldier’s mouth. He made a gurgling noise and thrashed wildly. I shouted, “Put the man out of his misery.” All I got for an answer was a cussing out. Another Marine ran up, put a bullet in the enemy soldier’s brain, and ended his agony. The scavenger grumbled and continued extracting his prizes undisturbed.[8] ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-military-term-fieldstripping-mean-tearing-up-smoked-cigarettes/243629/19 "2016-09-10T13:03:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **ExTank** : > > Question asked and answered, but I’ll also add, that in my time in the U.S. Army, “fieldstripping” was also slang used to indicate the breaking down to subcomponents of…anything, and it was understood by context. Does that include breaking up, say, an enemy vehicle into subcomponents, by indiscriminate application of chemical and kinetic energy?