Doc Jargon Frocking

Photo By Collen McGee | Doc Jargon, cutting through the jargon that is the U.S. Army.  

FORT RILEY, KS, UNITED STATES

05.04.2023

Story by Collen McGee 

Fort Riley Public Affairs Office

Army term almost ends friendship

Dear Doc Jargon,
I have been asked to help my best friend from high school and I have to admit, I often have a problem understanding the language the Army has given him. This time, I was outright shocked. He asked me to come to Fort Riley and frock him in front of his unit. He said he wanted me to do one side and his mom was going to do the other. I didn’t say anything at first — I had no idea how to respond to that. But, he’s been my best friend forever and I figured I at least needed to listen to what he really wanted from me.
It turns out, my buddy is about to become a noncommissioned officer and he wanted me to come to his promotion ceremony and participate. He’s going to be wearing his dress uniform and his mom and I will each get to pin his new rank on the sleeves.
I figured I needed to see if you can spread the word about this practice before some other poor civilian friend gets a request like this and just hangs up.

Sincerely,
Frocking Friend

Dear Frocking Friend,
It took me a minute or two to quit laughing after I read your letter. This instance is exactly why I started this column. It is so easy to misunderstand the military jargon and completely miss the point. I’m so glad you were a good enough friend to hear your buddy out. Most of our terms like this come from some instance or practice back in the early days of our military. In this instance the term can be traced back as far as 1802 to the Navy. It began with the practice of temporarily tacking a rank onto a uniform frock coat — that item no longer exists, but is now represented by the outer jacket of military dress uniforms.
Though the frock coat is long gone, the term has lingered. In fact, Army promotees are allowed to ask anyone they choose to frock them at their promotion. And yes, we have an official form for that. You can see an example of a frocking request at https://www.hrc.army.mil/content/FROCKING%20REQUEST%20EXAMPLE.
Sincerely,
Doc Jargon

• Date Taken: 05.04.2023
• Date Posted: 05.04.2023 16:26
• Story ID: 444063
• Location: FORT RILEY, KS, US