One afternoon during boot camp our Marine D.I. instructed us to eat up as we were going to have an easy afternoon. I didn't believe the SOB and suspected he'd run us till someone puked. I shared my suspicions with the platoon and it was passed serepticiously from table to table. We were sparse in our meal. After, as we were marching back to our quonset hut area we were ordered to halt. D.I. said he'd reconsidered and decided we were going to go for a run before heading back. We ran a 3 mile run quickly. Wouldn't you know, not an up chuck in the whole platoon. Made my week to see his disappointed mug.
you're the lucky SOB for your Drill Instructor not getting suspicious !!... what you did is what true leaders do.. saved your bros from needless BS and still completed the run. Hopefully, any other Drill Instructor would have liked the INITIATIVE you took, to OVERCOME what was waiting for your platoon. Stay strong.. Stay Gung-Ho
@@Tipi83 He sounded maganamous. Something he definitely not. I believe he thought by encouraging us to eat like chow hounds the run he had planned would have a devastating effect on us. Don't know what his ultimate plan/lesson was but if you went through boot in 1968 you'd know how scheming these Instructors could be. Generally going through the mess hall you just held your tray and the server would place a pre-set portion on your tray. He told us to eat up while we were in line before we entered the mess hall. The portions of food were like regular rations and then a bit more. Don't believe me? I can give a damn less.
When I was at Parris Island I ate anything they gave me in the time allowed. Remedial PT and corrective punishment was a daily certainty. I doubt your colorful story.
Captain Sobel was an example of "great in training, useless in practice". If you cannot bring the confidence in every phase, then they will not follow you.
They don't have to follow him, but they do need to follow somebody. A good training officer doesn't need to be a good combat leader. He does, however, need to be able to identify quality material and train those troops to a razor's edge before handing them over to officer's who WILL lead them into battle. Sobel seems to have been pretty good at that, and it really paid of at Carentan and the Ardennes. He built Easy Company. General McClellan was a lousy field officer. He saw ambushes and numerically superior enemy forces around every corner. Totally missed a golden opportunity to deliver a crushing blow at Antietam when he mistook a dropped Confederate dispatch pouch containing Lee's order of battle for a crafty ruse. Still, he was a brilliant logistical coordinator, organizer and trainer who honed the Army of the Potomac into the razor-sharp tool that Grant would use to ultimately defeat Lee. If you ask my opinion, good training officers like Sobel and McClellan are just as vital to victory as good combat leaders like Winters and Grant.
@@CaesarInVa Oh they are, a training officer SHOULD be absolutely detested by the men he trains. He should knit pick the ever living hell out of them. He should also, NEVER be a combat officer. Two different mindsets. The problem with Sobel was, he let it get personal, particularly with Winters and it wasn't a secret he didn't like Winters. So instead of everyone seeing it as part of training, they saw it more and more as a personal vendetta against Winters that he was taking out on the whole company, which in a way, he was.
Sobel being relieved of Easy Co. prior to the jump into France probably saved his life. There would have been no doubt, a grenade accident in his tent.
He wouldn't even have lived that long. The C47 carrying the company's HQ group was shot down over Normandy killing evryone onboard. Had Sobel still been in command, he would've been in that plane instead of Lt. Meehan.
Sobel is played like a completely self serving dick head.....just like in real life. ... please tell me how no one in easy company just didnt snap and break his scrawny little neck in real life?
You have to admire David Schwimmer for taking on this role. It's the sort of thing that's rewarding as an actor, but not not going to get you much glory. He knew going into this what the role was.
@@kanabis134 if youre not a transgender method actor .You're not a celebrity. THIS includes the music industry professional sports and the political arena. Serena and Vanessa Williams for example. Obviously F2M transgender method athletes. Serena's always mad cuz he misses his penis. Vanessa not so much.
Heed my words young squire, let this teaching be with you always. The Knight who rides his steed into battle bareback is both brave and bold, yet foolhardy.
@@rcslyman8929 Weeeell, in those days, syphilis was a death sentence, though rudimentary (read: literally injecting mercury salts into the urethra,an incredibly painful and only somewhat effective) treatments for some general diseases did exist. During WW2, penicillin was widely used to treat disease, and it was discovered that it was an effective treatment for syphilis.Ergo, almost three thousand formerly syphillitic men were drafted into the Armed Services by 1944, as the US military began to scrape the untapped potential manpower reserves of formerly deadly diseases now treatable by penicillin. This was reflective of a trend across the world as nations began to look for someone, anybody to hold a rifle or work a lathe in the latter years of the war. Britain was in the beginning phases of a manpower shortage by 1945, and most of the Axis powers were calling up men in their sixties to train boys as young as twelve by 1945.
The after-credits scene shows Sobel back at his quarters eating peaches while he writes a letter to his girlfriend saying when she sees his new tie they're going to need some prophylactics.
Sobel was wrong. I understand a good drill sergeant but a lot of these men were going to loose there lives, jumping into france and he knew it. Even men on the death penalty get a last meal and a little comfort.
@@LionKing-ox1dr Sobel was an excellent “drill sergeant,” but turned out to be useless in the field. I understand your perspective, but in reality the cold unrelenting training is to keep as many of you alive as possible, and maximize your individual chances of survival. I’ve been a civilian for over a decade now. I’ve been hard on those under me, but it’s always been with the motivation to make them better, or make them last longer depending on the situation and job. No ones method is perfect but there was always a purpose behind what I make somebody do, I’ve never harangued a person just because I could.
@@kenconnelly773 You are correct. I did my research on him, and the great men of easy that survived the war actually thanked Sobel. P.s thank you for your service. Plus i heard he committed suicide.
@@LionKing-ox1dr he tried. He shot himself but was not successful and left him blind the rest of his life. His last days were not enjoyable or enviable.
@@LionKing-ox1dr "Even men on the death penalty get a last meal and a little comfort." You could argue the ice cream they got before jumping into France was that last meal.
Sobel simply could not just promote Winters. He had to make a situation where he would chew out the officers first. When the promotion came to question, Sobel keeps a tone in his voice as if he disagrees with Sink judgement to promote WInters, and then proceeds to give Winters a punishment duty with the promotion. This was likely some show of authority to degrade Winters despite the promotion, and to keep Winters underneath his boot.
"Leaders" like Sobel are the reason why I never even thought about re-enlisting. Unnecessary misery that doesn't lead to any sustainable gains over the long term really hurts morale & retainment. In my 4 year tour in the Navy, I can only recall a handful of guys out of a division of ~60 who actually re-upped.
Its funny you mention that. I was in the AF and out of the 150 or so in my squadron, all but 5 left right before or right after me (a time span of about 8 months to a year). The last commander I had held a unique kind of hatred for enlisted personnel...regardless of rank. He would hand out Article 15s like it was candy on Halloween. I was one of the lucky few that got out with an honorable discharge. Apparently when there is a mass exodus from a squadron, it draws the attention of the AF Inspector General. Long story short, my commander got charged, arrested, busted down to captain (from colonel), and forced out. His wife left him shortly after. In short, karma can be awesome.
@@LostDisciple24 Wow, I'm surprised to hear that because #1 I thought the Air Force was supposed to have the highest quality of life and many people reenlist#2 they actually held that officer accountable. Most officers and senior enlisted can get away with almost anything.
@@tongw082 The AF has the highest standards. They pride themselves on that. So much so that if someone or something messes up, no matter how minor or unavoidable, has serious repercussions. I remember heading to base one morning. I saw on the side of the road a fellow Airman whose car had broken down. So I phoned my supervisor apprising her of the situation. I took the Airman to his squadron. Turns out, he was that squadron's commander. Needless to say, when I got to my squadron I was a little late. Therefore, I got my ass hauled in front of my commander, he slapped me with an Article 15 "for being 10 minutes late." My reasons didn't matter. Eventually the Article 15 got revoked ONLY by the intervention of the base commander. The base commander revoked it under the cause of "following THE three AF core values." ...keep in mind, this was my argument all along. By this time however, it was too late to test for my next rank, so I had to wait a whole year to test. Now, I really don't want to paint the entire AF based on the actions of one now-ex commander, but it does go to show that the AF having the highest standards is a double-edged sword.
FTN - Never Again Volunteer Yourself. But, I think it was one of the interviews in this series where one Vet said "I wouldn't do it again for a million dollars; but I wouldn't take a million dollars for the experience." I met a lot of characters in there.
@@LostDisciple24 Just like there was the mass resignation within Easy. A couple people, maybe, but a whole bunch, the NCO's, the higher ups have to ask "what the hell is going on there?"
True that, the only penalizing that was justified was stealing the can of food. Supplies during war need to be carefully rationed and you can’t have thieves.
It's Time that’s true, but because of his emphasis on training easy Company was the most physically fit in the regiment, you can actually find the records if you dig deep enough and see they regularly scored higher than their sister units.
I love people who defend Sobel. I'm 110% sure those same people would want to dismantle him if they were put through the same treatment during training.
Sobel gets a raw deal in BoB. In reality, Winters and his men credited his harsh instruction style with making them ready for the desperate mission that lay ahead. Sure, they didn't like him. But he did what needed to be done and the results speak for themselves.
You don't get it do you? He is making excellent job as a training officer, I can give him that credit for that and same time hope that we wouldn't meet someday later on some shadow alley. You shouldn't take it personally, it's just army way. Actually that wasn't so bad, you can always give up too.
There are soldiers just like Sobel in the Army. They’re the type of person who is blinded by regulation & the idea of duty & incapable of critical thinking or innovative thought. Sure much of the Army is black and white because you have to have discipline, orders & regulations but you have to be able to think outside the box at times because being overly strict, overbearing and narrow-minded leads to a lot of bad things like being caught up on a power trip, etc Sobel had some other kinds of issues like self-loathing and self-hatred. He hid behind the rank and was devoid of building relationships and was actually toxic. He is the perfect example of a power tripping boss who is seemingly a good leader especially to his bosses and gets results from his soldiers but at a terrible cost. His men despise him and he is really ineffective at a lot of tasks. While he is a good motivator he is poor at land navigation. To the higher ups he puts on all the right appearances but in reality he is really mediocre at many vital tasks. He didn’t have to act that way and would still be able to get the same results using less severe methods. The reality of it all was that he was a bad leader in many respects and unfortunately it did end tragically for Sobel. It’s sad really
In the book there were a few examples of other officers like Sobel: Lt Peacock for instance wasn’t such a dick like Sobel, but he was also extremely rigorous about pointless army regulations and got people lower on the hierarchy to do stuff for him just because he could. Much like Sobel, he also wasn’t a good leader under fire. Pvt Webster wrote several times to his parents and on his journal about how much he hated the Army and couldn’t understand how anyone in their right mind would want to stay there after the war was over.
Yeah spot on. I came across quite alot of people like Sobel in the British Army, they think that being a dick to subordinates makes a better leader. When in fact it's the exact opposite, the guys will work hard in spite of him, not because of him. The really great leaders were the ones that actually cared about you but could also get the most out of you, you'd follow them into battle. With guys like Sobel all you'd want to do is just the bare minimum to get him off your back.
@@bigsteve1664 I think it’s due to the manifestation of two concepts The Dunning-Kruger effect which basically states some people think they are a lot smarter than they actually are Also, the Peter Principle which was conceived bu some sociologist Anyway, it surmises that in any bureaucracy there will be incompetent people at all levels of the hierarchy who shouldnt be there That is, there are managers who stat long enough and fall through the cracks to get promoted to a level for which they are ill suited and inept. We see these forces at work all the time usually together.
I wondered as I watched this, how many officers there were like this, my grandfather served in the RAF and used to love to tell a story of the company securing a live cow in their commander’s quarters I guess it smelled ripe after a few hours
The way he died in real life is extremely sad, it must be said. Attempted to commit suicide in the 70's, blinded himself and ultimately died alone in a VA hospital in the 80's, from malnutrition. He didn't even get any type of memorial service. Obviously nobody really knows the full details of his life, but it struck me as rather tragic. As i understand it, though he was widely despised by E Company, some did admit that his brutal training and vindictive attitude played a part in their later successes in the War.
Not really a paratrooper in WWII received an extra 50 bucks a month a private monthly pay was 50 dollars so a paratrooper was paid almost double as a private
@@flukeman022 He was probably out of the paratroopers entirely and instead sent to the regular infantry. So instead of paratrooping into France he probably landed on Normandy beach by boat.
i think col. sink wanted to fix sobel by letting him promote winters. he sensed that sobel was losing the connection to his troops and gave him an opportunity to bond with his subordinates... if the medals/award were important i am sure he would have handed them out himself, it was a leadership move by sink. of course sobel wanted none of that, he was to concerned about creating a gap between his rank and the next person under him. he promoted winters as instructed but demoted him at the same time to mess duty.
@@yank-tc8bz Sink was likely none the wiser until it really hit the fan with the NCO mutiny. When Easy was literally outperforming all the other companies in the entire Battalion, you're not going to be overly concerned with how they got there. Only that the Company CO (and the Officers/NCO's below him) must've been doing their jobs and inspiring and training their men with diligence. Sink would've been more concerned with fixing the lesser performing Coy's. He may have heard rumblings of his lack of fieldcraft ability towards the end, but probably treated that as a good thing for Sobel to be under pressure himself and demonstrate his worth.
Maybe some were to cover the muzzle of his rifle. He may also have had an eye on selling them on the black market - they were quite in demand, especially in London.
"I will not tolerate thievery!" Meanwhile, the US Marines in Guadalcanal were stealing everything they could get their mitts on...including cans of peaches. Semper Fi, gents.
I would have you know that, contrary to claims, the USMC is not filled with theives. There is and has only been one their in the Corps. Everyone else has just been trying to get their shit back.
Captain Sobel is exactly the kind of training officer I would expect to get in a military school where they are trying to "weed you out". Examples of this would be Officer Candidate School, Ranger School, Airborne School, Air Assault School, etc. He is extremely tough and demanding. But I would not want to have his type in a field combat unit. There, you need a different kind of leader, as the series showed with Lt. Winters. It's not that Sobel is a totally "bad officer" as many claim. He is just very good at his specific job. He is what the conditions of the time and place require. But he is NOT a field commander. An efficient training officer yes--a leader/coach/mentor in the field--no. (I hope I was able to explain that correctly for those of you who haven't been in the miliary.)
I've watched Band of Brothers so many times and I just noticed that Sobel tugs on Winters' collar at 2:40. It's a good way to show how unhappy Sobel is with the promotion.
@@vtc193 And only because that promotion came from higher up. Had Sobel not given that bar, the then Col. Sink would probably ask him about it, and Sobel himself would be in trouble.
Sobel fielded one of the tightest and best units in WW2. Winters was the tactical brains behind it but their conditioning and training was a direct result of his training tactics. They were so focused on hating him they weren't realizing of the fact they were getting hella trained. There can be no doubting he succeeded in his job training.
That's incorrect. You can just as easily demoralize them and have them perform poorly. All those men had been trained, now they needed to be led, and Sobel was a piss poor leader, while Winters was not. Not every man from the Sobel days lived. There were many replacements that never trained under Sobel, but they benefited from Winters' leadership.
Barstadry has no place in effective training, well not in the Australian Army when I served 1972-2007, the first half of that in Infantry and Airborne units.
Schwimmer is quite good in the facial expressions he makes as Sobel in this clip - proud self-regard when he gets his captain's bars, changing to a look of annoyance when he is given the task of promoting Winters.
I remember reading a story by Uboat captain Gunther Prien when he first entered as a naval cadet in Germany. One cadet had taken a small ham for his family. They threw him out of the program.
Promotion in private and put as the commander saw fit to promote you, and then an additional duty used to mess with the men. It’s a brilliant scene and David Schwimmer pulls off the role wonderfully.
@@pinkushatejar it’s a reference to one of the soldiers bitching about how “spaghetti isn’t supposed to be orange” about a minute after this clip ends, to which another replies, “this isn’t spaghetti, it’s army noodles with ketchup.”
Reminds me in the simpsons when the teacher and lunch lady press the "independent thought alarm" and Skinner responds by having Grounds Keeper Willie to remove all the color chalk from the classrooms. Willie: "I warned you! Didnt I warn you! That colored chalk is forged by lucifer himself!"
My uncle had a commanding officer like this when he was in the Polish Army post WWII. One example of his cruelty was when their families arrived on the weekend for a scheduled visit he made the men look at them through a window and wouldn't allow them to make contact and spend time together. He didn't last long with this approach. His own men killed him for being such a piece of shit.
I’ve known bosses/leaders like Sobek. They lead through intimidation instead of inspiration. If they choked on food in the mess haul there would be a long discussion on who should help him. Long enough that he’d be dead.
He is really great actor & put so much effort into his character. Because i love him so much in Friends series, and yet hated him so much as he became Sobel.
I ate cookies on KP in basic training at Ft Benning. We weren't actually allowed to eat the deserts served to us, they went into the garbage. As punishment I had to eat cookies until I puked in front of the platoon. By the end of it, they were singing cadence to help me along. For the rest of my time in the service I was known as the cookie monster. I swear it was Capt Sobel's ghost yelling at us that day. Had everyone in the front leaning rest, and we were laughing the entire time. C is Cookie!
@@Predator42ID I dont know if other training battalions did it, but it seemed to me to be a huge waste of money. All those pastries shit canned, it's a crying shame
That was known from the beginning acually, he got paid the most out of the friends cast till he renegotiated for the other 5 to all make the same as him, good man.
I need to watch this series. Actor William Windom was in the 82nd Airborne...All American. He jumped at D-Day, too. A few days prior to the jump his unit, which was in England, was briefed by a military officer who basically tried to tell the men how to tell the difference between German and US artillery/planes/weapons by making the sounds with his mouth. Windom said the VD films the men had to watch, was more interesting. By the end of the talk, the officer made it sound like the US had cap guns compared to German artillery. Windom said one soldier shot himself in the foot to get out of the jump!
He did not go crazy! He coldly and rationally proved, beyond any doubt, that a copy of the key had been made and was only prevented from finding who made it by the disloyalty of his officers!
"Captain, are personal letters to be considered contraband?" "These men aren't paratroopers yet, lieutenant, they have no personal property" Captain Sobel would've made an amazing beuaracrat with that level of question dodging.
As EASY as he is to hate, Sober does a fine job training these men. Even Winters admitted it in his book. Rules in the military aren't there just to fuck with you, discipline is incredibly important and he taught these men how to follow orders.
It is important to point out that Sobel's family AND the real Lt. Winters dispute how Sobel was portraying in Band of Brothers. It's a matter of perception I believe. Regardless of whether Sobel was portrayed accurately or not, he represents a type of officer that was seen often in the military and serves as a reminder of how it was, not necessarily how it is. There will always be bad apples but they too serve a purpose.
David Schwimmer trying to be a badass if I was acting in those scenes I don't think I can keep a straight face I'd keep looking at him and think of Ross
That's really a big part of what made David Schwimmer PERFECT for this role. Nobody has ever seen Ross as a badass, yet here he is trying (and very obviously failing) to be one. It makes you want to punch him even more.
It could be BS. Sobel is quite capable of having people punished for nothing. Maybe he just wanted rid of Private Parks, who most likely was transferred to an ordinary infantry division, or perhaps the 82nd Airborne.
There's a forgotten dimension to this scene... Col Sink is clearly depicted as being out of touch with the officers, at least these 2, under his command.
I think Sobel didn't have the right style of communication when reprimanding Nixon. Should have gone something like: "Hey Nixon, what's happening? Great. I'm going to need you to go ahead and cancel your weekend pass and come in on Saturday. We need to run up curahee, so if you could be at the foot of the hill at 0600hrs then that would be great... ....oh, almost forgot. I'm going to need you to come in on Sunday also, the men are behind on their physical resilience and we need to play a little catch up."
I was in Bagram with the 101st, assigned to medical. Unfortunately, at Disney. I kept running across an Air Force Captain..... He loved them salutes. I've seen more than a few enlisted get ripped apart for "Failing to salute a "Superior Officer" One morning, I was at Craig Hospital when I heard about some Air Force Captain being run over on base by a local contractor. The captain broke like 6 ribs, could barely move his arms and was awaiting transfer to Germany. The Air Force medics were joking that they should go in and salute him, and refuse to leave until the captain saluted them back....I immediately knew who they were talking about.....
When Sobel here's Sinks thoughts onWinters as an officer you could see the wind go out of his sails. I think Sobel was hoping to go into combat with Sink as his XO. That spaghetti scene followed by another run was just a nasty move on the part of Sobel. I'm surprised no one tried to drag him after that incident.
I think the fence incident finally was the last straw for sink. Because it directly impacted a resident of the host country negatively. No way sink would let that one slide. Besides his other failings, of course.
sobel tried killing himself but failed so he spent the rest of his life as a vegetable lol no one deserves to die like that especially the teacher of e company
@@MontyQueues it's clear that you've never been in the US Army. Company Commanders don't do the training, they facilitate it. Sobel just did extra vindictive shit to fuck with the troops and make himself look better.
@@ffjsb You need to read the autobiographies of the men of Easy Company, who specifically name Captain Sobel as the one who trained them. In fact, they begrudgingly attribute their success due to his training, even if they also said he was petty and vindictive
Actually they're dropped call was Geronimo there's several pictures of Native American paratroopers during World War II and Geronimo was there call not is what this movie says
John Does it was geronimo, reference to a movie by white paratroopers who saw the the film of the same name on leave. It wasnt because of an ethnic native influence but a Hollywood film.
Similar thing in OSUT 2017, 80 years into the future. Had the drills load us up with cottage cheese and whatever else the mess was serving. Smoked us up and down hills for miles, vomiting everywhere. I vaguely remember seeing someone vomiting into a drain grate with a drill sergeant yelling into a megaphone, "HIDE YOUR SHAME" so the private started scooping the vomit up and into his pockets. Good times. It's a shame to see what our American military has become these days... Disrespectful to the men and women who sacrificed and fought so hard to become stronger, faster people. Shameful.
The one where Ross does a surprisingly good job training a group of men for combat but then blows any built up goodwill by giving in to his insecurities and not knowing to take his foot off the pedal
One afternoon during boot camp our Marine D.I. instructed us to eat up as we were going to have an easy afternoon. I didn't believe the SOB and suspected he'd run us till someone puked. I shared my suspicions with the platoon and it was passed serepticiously from table to table. We were sparse in our meal. After, as we were marching back to our quonset hut area we were ordered to halt. D.I. said he'd reconsidered and decided we were going to go for a run before heading back. We ran a 3 mile run quickly. Wouldn't you know, not an up chuck in the whole platoon. Made my week to see his disappointed mug.
you're the lucky SOB for your Drill Instructor not getting suspicious !!... what you did is what true leaders do.. saved your bros from needless BS and still completed the run. Hopefully, any other Drill Instructor would have liked the INITIATIVE you took, to OVERCOME what was waiting for your platoon. Stay strong.. Stay Gung-Ho
"instructed to eat" xD As if Marines needs to be instructed to eat...
@@Tipi83 He sounded maganamous. Something he definitely not. I believe he thought by encouraging us to eat like chow hounds the run he had planned would have a devastating effect on us. Don't know what his ultimate plan/lesson was but if you went through boot in 1968 you'd know how scheming these Instructors could be.
Generally going through the mess hall you just held your tray and the server would place a pre-set portion on your tray. He told us to eat up while we were in line before we entered the mess hall. The portions of food were like regular rations and then a bit more. Don't believe me? I can give a damn less.
Semper Fi
When I was at Parris Island I ate anything they gave me in the time allowed.
Remedial PT and corrective punishment was a daily certainty.
I doubt your colorful story.
Captain Sobel was an example of "great in training, useless in practice". If you cannot bring the confidence in every phase, then they will not follow you.
They don't have to follow him, but they do need to follow somebody. A good training officer doesn't need to be a good combat leader. He does, however, need to be able to identify quality material and train those troops to a razor's edge before handing them over to officer's who WILL lead them into battle. Sobel seems to have been pretty good at that, and it really paid of at Carentan and the Ardennes. He built Easy Company. General McClellan was a lousy field officer. He saw ambushes and numerically superior enemy forces around every corner. Totally missed a golden opportunity to deliver a crushing blow at Antietam when he mistook a dropped Confederate dispatch pouch containing Lee's order of battle for a crafty ruse. Still, he was a brilliant logistical coordinator, organizer and trainer who honed the Army of the Potomac into the razor-sharp tool that Grant would use to ultimately defeat Lee. If you ask my opinion, good training officers like Sobel and McClellan are just as vital to victory as good combat leaders like Winters and Grant.
@@CaesarInVa Oh they are, a training officer SHOULD be absolutely detested by the men he trains. He should knit pick the ever living hell out of them. He should also, NEVER be a combat officer. Two different mindsets. The problem with Sobel was, he let it get personal, particularly with Winters and it wasn't a secret he didn't like Winters. So instead of everyone seeing it as part of training, they saw it more and more as a personal vendetta against Winters that he was taking out on the whole company, which in a way, he was.
@@ramjb Not so sure about all of that. Interviews with David schwimmer on UA-cam about Sobel show a different view of the man.
Would they ever have become what they where without Sobel ?
and earn the respect
Sobel being relieved of Easy Co. prior to the jump into France probably saved his life. There would have been no doubt, a grenade accident in his tent.
He wouldn't even have lived that long. The C47 carrying the company's HQ group was shot down over Normandy killing evryone onboard. Had Sobel still been in command, he would've been in that plane instead of Lt. Meehan.
actually he wouldve died before jumping.... the plane he was supposed to be on exploded
@@gabrielgodinho3905 sorry i repeated you ;)
Sobels life was tragic. He attempted suicide. He's a sad story
@@gabrielgodinho3905 He would've rather been on that plane rather than the life he lived afterwards.
Just makes everything sweeter when Sobel has to salute Winters
One of my favorite scenes.
Kinda. He didn't really mean it, and I'm sure winters knew it.
Sobel is played like a completely self serving dick head.....just like in real life. ... please tell me how no one in easy company just didnt snap and break his scrawny little neck in real life?
@@bikervet0072 Wow. I didn't even know that. Thats super sad.
David Blott we salute the rank not the man
You have to admire David Schwimmer for taking on this role. It's the sort of thing that's rewarding as an actor, but not not going to get you much glory. He knew going into this what the role was.
She was happy taking any male role. All actors are transgender method
@@garmind4868 21 century schizoid man moment
@@kanabis134 if youre not a transgender method actor .You're not a celebrity. THIS includes the music industry professional sports and the political arena. Serena and Vanessa Williams for example. Obviously F2M transgender method athletes. Serena's always mad cuz he misses his penis. Vanessa not so much.
@@garmind4868 A transvestigator in the wild. How fascinating!
@@darman53theres no bizness like show bizness
The Army used to issue rubbers to put on the end of your rifle to keep the rain out. The guy with the box of 200 was just saving for a rainy day.
Completely true.
or a hurricane.
I work in Air Force supply. They still do.
Heyoo.
Or a summer in England
"This man had 200 prophylactic kits in his footlocker"
That man is my hero. Truly the greatest generation
Heroes don't always wear capes 😂
Fight the Huns, not VDs.
Heed my words young squire, let this teaching be with you always. The Knight who rides his steed into battle bareback is both brave and bold, yet foolhardy.
Weekend pass lasts a couple of days, but syphilis lasts a lifetime.
@@rcslyman8929 Weeeell, in those days, syphilis was a death sentence, though rudimentary (read: literally injecting mercury salts into the urethra,an incredibly painful and only somewhat effective) treatments for some general diseases did exist. During WW2, penicillin was widely used to treat disease, and it was discovered that it was an effective treatment for syphilis.Ergo, almost three thousand formerly syphillitic men were drafted into the Armed Services by 1944, as the US military began to scrape the untapped potential manpower reserves of formerly deadly diseases now treatable by penicillin.
This was reflective of a trend across the world as nations began to look for someone, anybody to hold a rifle or work a lathe in the latter years of the war. Britain was in the beginning phases of a manpower shortage by 1945, and most of the Axis powers were calling up men in their sixties to train boys as young as twelve by 1945.
The after-credits scene shows Sobel back at his quarters eating peaches while he writes a letter to his girlfriend saying when she sees his new tie they're going to need some prophylactics.
Sobel was wrong. I understand a good drill sergeant but a lot of these men were going to loose there lives, jumping into france and he knew it. Even men on the death penalty get a last meal and a little comfort.
@@LionKing-ox1dr Sobel was an excellent “drill sergeant,” but turned out to be useless in the field. I understand your perspective, but in reality the cold unrelenting training is to keep as many of you alive as possible, and maximize your individual chances of survival. I’ve been a civilian for over a decade now. I’ve been hard on those under me, but it’s always been with the motivation to make them better, or make them last longer depending on the situation and job. No ones method is perfect but there was always a purpose behind what I make somebody do, I’ve never harangued a person just because I could.
@@kenconnelly773 You are correct. I did my research on him, and the great men of easy that survived the war actually thanked Sobel. P.s thank you for your service. Plus i heard he committed suicide.
@@LionKing-ox1dr he tried. He shot himself but was not successful and left him blind the rest of his life. His last days were not enjoyable or enviable.
@@LionKing-ox1dr
"Even men on the death penalty get a last meal and a little comfort."
You could argue the ice cream they got before jumping into France was that last meal.
Good thing Captain Sobel didn't find a jelly donut in one of them footlockers.
That's because he knew that in the future a Gunnery Sergeant Hartman was going to find a jelly donut in the footlocker.
@@andresleon-jimenez7004 Holy Jesus...
Or a fraternity pledge pin.
@@longxiao9823 What is that…?!
i was thinking more of fresh water eel
Sobel giving Winters two weeks of chow hall detail with his promotion is an example of how petty the guy really was
Sobel simply could not just promote Winters. He had to make a situation where he would chew out the officers first. When the promotion came to question, Sobel keeps a tone in his voice as if he disagrees with Sink judgement to promote WInters, and then proceeds to give Winters a punishment duty with the promotion. This was likely some show of authority to degrade Winters despite the promotion, and to keep Winters underneath his boot.
"Leaders" like Sobel are the reason why I never even thought about re-enlisting. Unnecessary misery that doesn't lead to any sustainable gains over the long term really hurts morale & retainment. In my 4 year tour in the Navy, I can only recall a handful of guys out of a division of ~60 who actually re-upped.
Its funny you mention that. I was in the AF and out of the 150 or so in my squadron, all but 5 left right before or right after me (a time span of about 8 months to a year). The last commander I had held a unique kind of hatred for enlisted personnel...regardless of rank. He would hand out Article 15s like it was candy on Halloween. I was one of the lucky few that got out with an honorable discharge. Apparently when there is a mass exodus from a squadron, it draws the attention of the AF Inspector General. Long story short, my commander got charged, arrested, busted down to captain (from colonel), and forced out. His wife left him shortly after.
In short, karma can be awesome.
@@LostDisciple24 Wow, I'm surprised to hear that because #1 I thought the Air Force was supposed to have the highest quality of life and many people reenlist#2 they actually held that officer accountable. Most officers and senior enlisted can get away with almost anything.
@@tongw082 The AF has the highest standards. They pride themselves on that. So much so that if someone or something messes up, no matter how minor or unavoidable, has serious repercussions.
I remember heading to base one morning. I saw on the side of the road a fellow Airman whose car had broken down. So I phoned my supervisor apprising her of the situation. I took the Airman to his squadron. Turns out, he was that squadron's commander. Needless to say, when I got to my squadron I was a little late. Therefore, I got my ass hauled in front of my commander, he slapped me with an Article 15 "for being 10 minutes late." My reasons didn't matter. Eventually the Article 15 got revoked ONLY by the intervention of the base commander. The base commander revoked it under the cause of "following THE three AF core values." ...keep in mind, this was my argument all along. By this time however, it was too late to test for my next rank, so I had to wait a whole year to test.
Now, I really don't want to paint the entire AF based on the actions of one now-ex commander, but it does go to show that the AF having the highest standards is a double-edged sword.
FTN - Never Again Volunteer Yourself.
But, I think it was one of the interviews in this series where one Vet said "I wouldn't do it again for a million dollars; but I wouldn't take a million dollars for the experience." I met a lot of characters in there.
@@LostDisciple24 Just like there was the mass resignation within Easy. A couple people, maybe, but a whole bunch, the NCO's, the higher ups have to ask "what the hell is going on there?"
Sobel: I like spaghetti.
Narrator: Sobel hated spaghetti.
@@robertswitzer990 xD
Lmfao well said
Pucukax LMAO
I read in Morgan Freeman's voice.
I like spaghetti too
From McDonald's
While Sobel was good, this excessive reprimanding and penalizing was unnecessary. A man's personal correspondence should not be subject to penalty.
Krichek F when did you?
True that, the only penalizing that was justified was stealing the can of food. Supplies during war need to be carefully rationed and you can’t have thieves.
matrix49A had he lead ez company in battle he would’ve gotten everybody killed.
It's Time that’s true, but because of his emphasis on training easy Company was the most physically fit in the regiment, you can actually find the records if you dig deep enough and see they regularly scored higher than their sister units.
Remember men, flies spread disease! So keep your closed!
I love people who defend Sobel. I'm 110% sure those same people would want to dismantle him if they were put through the same treatment during training.
Yeah, of course you would hate him, even if you think that he is a great training officer.
He is a necessary evil!
If you hate your instructor, then he's doing a good job.
@@gordonramsay7854 you don't get 3 Michelin stars by being a softie eh
Sobel gets a raw deal in BoB. In reality, Winters and his men credited his harsh instruction style with making them ready for the desperate mission that lay ahead. Sure, they didn't like him. But he did what needed to be done and the results speak for themselves.
You don't get it do you? He is making excellent job as a training officer, I can give him that credit for that and same time hope that we wouldn't meet someday later on some shadow alley. You shouldn't take it personally, it's just army way. Actually that wasn't so bad, you can always give up too.
There are soldiers just like Sobel in the Army. They’re the type of person who is blinded by regulation & the idea of duty & incapable of critical thinking or innovative thought. Sure much of the Army is black and white because you have to have discipline, orders & regulations but you have to be able to think outside the box at times because being overly strict, overbearing and narrow-minded leads to a lot of bad things like being caught up on a power trip, etc Sobel had some other kinds of issues like self-loathing and self-hatred. He hid behind the rank and was devoid of building relationships and was actually toxic. He is the perfect example of a power tripping boss who is seemingly a good leader especially to his bosses and gets results from his soldiers but at a terrible cost. His men despise him and he is really ineffective at a lot of tasks. While he is a good motivator he is poor at land navigation. To the higher ups he puts on all the right appearances but in reality he is really mediocre at many vital tasks.
He didn’t have to act that way and would still be able to get the same results using less severe methods. The reality of it all was that he was a bad leader in many respects and unfortunately it did end tragically for Sobel. It’s sad really
In the book there were a few examples of other officers like Sobel: Lt Peacock for instance wasn’t such a dick like Sobel, but he was also extremely rigorous about pointless army regulations and got people lower on the hierarchy to do stuff for him just because he could. Much like Sobel, he also wasn’t a good leader under fire. Pvt Webster wrote several times to his parents and on his journal about how much he hated the Army and couldn’t understand how anyone in their right mind would want to stay there after the war was over.
Yeah spot on. I came across quite alot of people like Sobel in the British Army, they think that being a dick to subordinates makes a better leader. When in fact it's the exact opposite, the guys will work hard in spite of him, not because of him. The really great leaders were the ones that actually cared about you but could also get the most out of you, you'd follow them into battle. With guys like Sobel all you'd want to do is just the bare minimum to get him off your back.
@@bigsteve1664 I think it’s due to the manifestation of two concepts The Dunning-Kruger effect which basically states some people think they are a lot smarter than they actually are Also, the Peter Principle which was conceived bu some sociologist Anyway, it surmises that in any bureaucracy there will be incompetent people at all levels of the hierarchy who shouldnt be there That is, there are managers who stat long enough and fall through the cracks to get promoted to a level for which they are ill suited and inept. We see these forces at work all the time usually together.
I wondered as I watched this, how many officers there were like this, my grandfather served in the RAF and used to love to tell a story of the company securing a live cow in their commander’s quarters I guess it smelled ripe after a few hours
Some are great organizers, others are great tacticians.
The way he died in real life is extremely sad, it must be said. Attempted to commit suicide in the 70's, blinded himself and ultimately died alone in a VA hospital in the 80's, from malnutrition. He didn't even get any type of memorial service.
Obviously nobody really knows the full details of his life, but it struck me as rather tragic. As i understand it, though he was widely despised by E Company, some did admit that his brutal training and vindictive attitude played a part in their later successes in the War.
Excuse my callous attitude, so Sobel even managed to f....d up his own suicide, why arent I surprised.
@@ardshielcomplex8917 he's not the only one.
Doesn't that just speak more volumes about the US vet programs than the man?
@@gigaus0Malnutrition? Yup....that has the VA written all over it.
Is actually a can of pears, Nixon double time 3 miles up and 3 miles down.
Wrong, it was property of the united states army. Now you run 6 up and 6 down.
Wrong, Kruppt808. Your weekend pass is revoked!
@@urosmarjanovic663 But I was on a break.
@@joemckim1183 HIYOOOO SILVEEEER
You are ALL factually misguided.
That, was contraband.
"private park sir"
"Get rid off him"
I'm sure park was more than happy about that
Not really a paratrooper in WWII received an extra 50 bucks a month a private monthly pay was 50 dollars so a paratrooper was paid almost double as a private
@@Lupinthe3rd. maybe he stayed as a paratrooper but in a different company?
They were volunteers. They could leave any time they wanted.
@@flukeman022 He was probably out of the paratroopers entirely and instead sent to the regular infantry. So instead of paratrooping into France he probably landed on Normandy beach by boat.
"get rid of him" it's just a term word who has meaning as "beat him, fucked him, kill him"
Regardless of the historical truth. David Schwimmer absolutely nails this role. Potentially the best perfermonce In the series.
He really makes you hate him haha great performance
I hate Sobel’s guts because of him. So, yes, great job.
i think col. sink wanted to fix sobel by letting him promote winters. he sensed that sobel was losing the connection to his troops and gave him an opportunity to bond with his subordinates... if the medals/award were important i am sure he would have handed them out himself, it was a leadership move by sink. of course sobel wanted none of that, he was to concerned about creating a gap between his rank and the next person under him. he promoted winters as instructed but demoted him at the same time to mess duty.
Sink really failed in his handling of Sobel.
I think Sink didn't know anything about Sobel.
He was two ranks above so he cared only of his level of military business.
@@yank-tc8bz it blows my mind that in real life Sink actually allowed him back into the regiment.
@@yank-tc8bz Sink was likely none the wiser until it really hit the fan with the NCO mutiny. When Easy was literally outperforming all the other companies in the entire Battalion, you're not going to be overly concerned with how they got there. Only that the Company CO (and the Officers/NCO's below him) must've been doing their jobs and inspiring and training their men with diligence. Sink would've been more concerned with fixing the lesser performing Coy's. He may have heard rumblings of his lack of fieldcraft ability towards the end, but probably treated that as a good thing for Sobel to be under pressure himself and demonstrate his worth.
@@superbr0ws015 I find that hard to believe. during war games the report of how Easy did should reach his desk and show a problem
“I like Spaghetti.”
You can’t disagree with Sobels on that one
Sobel doesn't like spaghetti, he likes Army noodles and ketchup.
@@JagerLange maybe he liked both.
A true leader would be more concerned about what his men liked
"This man had 200 prophylactic kits in his footlocker. How in the name of God was he going to have the strength to fight the war?"
Great line.
Maybe some were to cover the muzzle of his rifle. He may also have had an eye on selling them on the black market - they were quite in demand, especially in London.
@@stevekaczynski3793 And maybe it was a line added to the series for comedic value and not meant to be analyzed.
"I will not tolerate thievery!"
Meanwhile, the US Marines in Guadalcanal were stealing everything they could get their mitts on...including cans of peaches.
Semper Fi, gents.
We Aussies always called it "scrounging" and you Americans were an easy harvest believe me LOL
@@ardshielcomplex8917 lol
I would have you know that, contrary to claims, the USMC is not filled with theives. There is and has only been one their in the Corps. Everyone else has just been trying to get their shit back.
Captain Sobel is exactly the kind of training officer I would expect to get in a military school where they are trying to "weed you out". Examples of this would be Officer Candidate School, Ranger School, Airborne School, Air Assault School, etc. He is extremely tough and demanding. But I would not want to have his type in a field combat unit. There, you need a different kind of leader, as the series showed with Lt. Winters. It's not that Sobel is a totally "bad officer" as many claim. He is just very good at his specific job. He is what the conditions of the time and place require. But he is NOT a field commander. An efficient training officer yes--a leader/coach/mentor in the field--no. (I hope I was able to explain that correctly for those of you who haven't been in the miliary.)
anyone under 18 is here? head's up: you're gonna have to deal with a thousand Sobels in your adult life. Have fun!
Ain't that the truth.
Hope to be a good officer one day... duck the Sobels in the world
Facts
Hell... let's be honest... some "lucky" kids, will probably have deal with a thousand Sobels in their life *before* they turn eighteen.
I am 47 years now, still haven't met a single Sobel in my life.
The One When Ross Lost It to a can of peaches...
He stole MY PEACHES?
MYYYYY PEACHEESSSSS!
Ross and that can of peaches were on break!
@@brinsonharris9816 I'll show you a break! Weekend pass revoked!
Lol
The unceremonious way soldiers' possessions are simply dumped out says quite a lot about Sobel.
Calling out errors is one thing...just randomly fucking with, trashing troops kit and personal items is not good instruction or leadership.
I've watched Band of Brothers so many times and I just noticed that Sobel tugs on Winters' collar at 2:40. It's a good way to show how unhappy Sobel is with the promotion.
That was your hint? The dressing down prior to giving the Winters bar told me about it.
@@urbypilot2136 He chewed out everyone. But he only promoted one of them.
@@vtc193 And only because that promotion came from higher up. Had Sobel not given that bar, the then Col. Sink would probably ask him about it, and Sobel himself would be in trouble.
@@urbypilot2136 I agree.
Imagine how he felt when he had to salute "major Winters"...
The 200 prophylactic kits makes me laugh every time. Lol
Weekend pass, contraband!
Sobel fielded one of the tightest and best units in WW2. Winters was the tactical brains behind it but their conditioning and training was a direct result of his training tactics. They were so focused on hating him they weren't realizing of the fact they were getting hella trained. There can be no doubting he succeeded in his job training.
To an extent. Some it would argue their success was due to Winters.
Bull shite, have you ever served ?
The moral of the story is the harder you are on soldiers, the more prepared for war they may be. That doesn't necessarily take a great leader though.
That's incorrect. You can just as easily demoralize them and have them perform poorly. All those men had been trained, now they needed to be led, and Sobel was a piss poor leader, while Winters was not. Not every man from the Sobel days lived. There were many replacements that never trained under Sobel, but they benefited from Winters' leadership.
Not true. You can be a total dork and not train the troops to do a dang thing.
Barstadry has no place in effective training, well not in the Australian Army when I served 1972-2007, the first half of that in Infantry and Airborne units.
Schwimmer is quite good in the facial expressions he makes as Sobel in this clip - proud self-regard when he gets his captain's bars, changing to a look of annoyance when he is given the task of promoting Winters.
And if you think about it, timed the promotion for just after the Barrack room ratting, a deceitful hint that Winters was in on it.
I remember reading a story by Uboat captain Gunther Prien when he first entered as a naval cadet in Germany. One cadet had taken a small ham for his family. They threw him out of the program.
Promotion in private and put as the commander saw fit to promote you, and then an additional duty used to mess with the men. It’s a brilliant scene and David Schwimmer pulls off the role wonderfully.
You'll notice that Col. Sink gave Sobel Captain's bars for Lt. Winters, but Sobel gave him a bar for the next grade of Lieutenant...
Mmmm. Looked like Lt bar. But if you see two, im impressed
Yes. He got promoted to 1st lieutenant
negative......Sink promoted Sobel from 1LT to CPT...and told him to promote Winters from 2LT to 1LT using the 1LT bar he had just taken off him.
This isn't Spaghetti, this is egg noodles with Ketchup.
Dusty 44 army noodles
@@torinwulfren9463 Dam was this close *pinches*
Goodfellas reference?
@@pinkushatejar it’s a reference to one of the soldiers bitching about how “spaghetti isn’t supposed to be orange” about a minute after this clip ends, to which another replies, “this isn’t spaghetti, it’s army noodles with ketchup.”
Still looks yummy.
They should keep fruit out of the military. It causes nothing but trouble. In the Caine mutiny it was strawberries.
Yea that way all your soldiers can get scurvy instead
@@BoxStudioExecutive I think hes joking, Box.
Reminds me in the simpsons when the teacher and lunch lady press the "independent thought alarm" and Skinner responds by having Grounds Keeper Willie to remove all the color chalk from the classrooms.
Willie: "I warned you! Didnt I warn you! That colored chalk is forged by lucifer himself!"
And the way I see it Lt. Winters, you owe me for ONE JELLY DONUT! I mean ONE CAN OF PEACHES!!!
Classic case of how leadership thinks one of their junior officers is doing a good job.
"Leaders" like Sobel is why I went SF after my first 3 years. Never regretted that decision.
Does SF mean Spaghetti Free?
@@hestoceles star force
DoL
"Curawho?"
-Every soldier who has ever encountered the 503rd since this series came out.
My uncle had a commanding officer like this when he was in the Polish Army post WWII. One example of his cruelty was when their families arrived on the weekend for a scheduled visit he made the men look at them through a window and wouldn't allow them to make contact and spend time together. He didn't last long with this approach. His own men killed him for being such a piece of shit.
Sure they did lmao and then the dragon arrived
Watching this in 2021 and Capt. Sobel is still revoking weekend passes.
When I was a captain, I was proud when my lieutenants were recognized...
I’ve known bosses/leaders like Sobek. They lead through intimidation instead of inspiration. If they choked on food in the mess haul there would be a long discussion on who should help him. Long enough that he’d be dead.
I would have said "But Sir, MAJOR Horton told me to take the peaches!"
Major Horton?? Major Horton told you to take the peaches??
@@JeepersCreepers12 Major _______ de Coverly gave me the peaches.
He is really great actor & put so much effort into his character. Because i love him so much in Friends series, and yet hated him so much as he became Sobel.
well said ZZ,he was bloody good at being bloody horrible in B of B, didn't realise how versatile he was 👍🇬🇧✌️
@@Richard-dp4fl exactly. During BoB, he become entirely new person. That defined he really passion with his acting performance.
It would have been hilarious if Nixon had said, "Thats United States Army property!" Probably would have still taken his weekend pass
1:16 lol it's the funny guy from all those funny comedies!
Simon pegg.
I ate cookies on KP in basic training at Ft Benning. We weren't actually allowed to eat the deserts served to us, they went into the garbage. As punishment I had to eat cookies until I puked in front of the platoon. By the end of it, they were singing cadence to help me along. For the rest of my time in the service I was known as the cookie monster. I swear it was Capt Sobel's ghost yelling at us that day. Had everyone in the front leaning rest, and we were laughing the entire time. C is Cookie!
I did that once by accident and it royally sucked. I didn't eat cookies for years after that.
@@Predator42ID I dont know if other training battalions did it, but it seemed to me to be a huge waste of money. All those pastries shit canned, it's a crying shame
Sobel was related to Norman Dike??? Would be a Nice duet, foxhole Norman and broken compass Sobel...
Now we all know why he chose spaghetti for them fine white clothes.
Colonel Sink plays the perfect clueless senior officer.
Tbh after the friends era this showed the "Ross" was the best actor from that show...
That was known from the beginning acually, he got paid the most out of the friends cast till he renegotiated for the other 5 to all make the same as him, good man.
@@malek734 I thought that was more to do with prior credentials?... Like Le Blanc didn't have the acting education some of the others had had.
The way Nixon said “Uhhh it’s a can of peaches, sir.” he kinda deserved to lose his pass for his smartass delivery. 😂
...AND Sobel ends up as a Supply Officer. Foreshadowing IRL.
I need to watch this series. Actor William Windom was in the 82nd Airborne...All American. He jumped at D-Day, too. A few days prior to the jump his unit, which was in England, was briefed by a military officer who basically tried to tell the men how to tell the difference between German and US artillery/planes/weapons by making the sounds with his mouth. Windom said the VD films the men had to watch, was more interesting. By the end of the talk, the officer made it sound like the US had cap guns compared to German artillery. Windom said one soldier shot himself in the foot to get out of the jump!
Can of peaches stolen is a reference to the Caine mutiny where the captain went crazy over a can of strawberries.
@M R Not necessarily true, the writers were very good on this series.
They were not canned strawberries
He did not go crazy! He coldly and rationally proved, beyond any doubt, that a copy of the key had been made and was only prevented from finding who made it by the disloyalty of his officers!
@@stevec7770 Yes they were. Remember the scene in the officers' mess when he had the mess steward ladle out portions of sand from a can the same size?
Those can of peaches were re-assigned to the Pacific theater of war after Sobel confiscated them.
"Captain, are personal letters to be considered contraband?"
"These men aren't paratroopers yet, lieutenant, they have no personal property"
Captain Sobel would've made an amazing beuaracrat with that level of question dodging.
Damn Sobel,always around,this man is everywhere.
Imagine Sobel? Doing a line from Capt. Kirk? Captains Log: I Lost my Flintstone Vitamins and Nobody Likes Me! Hiooooooo Silver! LoL
'Had 200 profylactic kits' I guess we found Joey's grandfather.
As EASY as he is to hate, Sober does a fine job training these men. Even Winters admitted it in his book. Rules in the military aren't there just to fuck with you, discipline is incredibly important and he taught these men how to follow orders.
Thats why Sink put him in charge of Chilton Folliat. Put him where his strengths were.
It is important to point out that Sobel's family AND the real Lt. Winters dispute how Sobel was portraying in Band of Brothers. It's a matter of perception I believe. Regardless of whether Sobel was portrayed accurately or not, he represents a type of officer that was seen often in the military and serves as a reminder of how it was, not necessarily how it is. There will always be bad apples but they too serve a purpose.
David Schwimmer trying to be a badass if I was acting in those scenes I don't think I can keep a straight face I'd keep looking at him and think of Ross
The character he was playing WAS trying to be a badass, good in some ways, horrible in others. Schwimmer was a perfect choice for this role.
That's really a big part of what made David Schwimmer PERFECT for this role. Nobody has ever seen Ross as a badass, yet here he is trying (and very obviously failing) to be one. It makes you want to punch him even more.
Who would you rather have? Sobel or Gunnery Sgt Hartman from Full Metal Jacket?
The look on Ross's face at 0:32 is priceless.
difference between a manager and a leader right there.
Captain Sobel: "i will not tolerate thievery in my Unit"
Easy Company: Proceeds to loot Germany at episode 9 and 10 including Major Winters.
to the victor belong the spoils
I remember seeing Simon Pegg and being like wait is that him😂
How does Sobel know that can of peaches was taken from the mess hall? For all we know, Private Parks's mother sent that can to him.
It could be BS. Sobel is quite capable of having people punished for nothing. Maybe he just wanted rid of Private Parks, who most likely was transferred to an ordinary infantry division, or perhaps the 82nd Airborne.
There's a forgotten dimension to this scene... Col Sink is clearly depicted as being out of touch with the officers, at least these 2, under his command.
A special meal and an afternoon off? Contraband!
David Schwimmer did an awesome job with this role.
if Sobel would have fought in Vietnam, he would have been shot by his own troops.
If he had led Easy into Normandy, he would probably have been shot. And not necessarily by the Germans...
David Schwimmer should have gotten an emmy for this role he really does a good job at making us hate this character
I think Sobel didn't have the right style of communication when reprimanding Nixon.
Should have gone something like:
"Hey Nixon, what's happening? Great. I'm going to need you to go ahead and cancel your weekend pass and come in on Saturday. We need to run up curahee, so if you could be at the foot of the hill at 0600hrs then that would be great...
....oh, almost forgot. I'm going to need you to come in on Sunday also, the men are behind on their physical resilience and we need to play a little catch up."
I was in Bagram with the 101st, assigned to medical. Unfortunately, at Disney. I kept running across an Air Force Captain..... He loved them salutes. I've seen more than a few enlisted get ripped apart for "Failing to salute a "Superior Officer"
One morning, I was at Craig Hospital when I heard about some Air Force Captain being run over on base by a local contractor. The captain broke like 6 ribs, could barely move his arms and was awaiting transfer to Germany. The Air Force medics were joking that they should go in and salute him, and refuse to leave until the captain saluted them back....I immediately knew who they were talking about.....
No wonder people at the museum call him "Mental Geller"
GET OFF MY SISTERRRR!!!!
@@johnsy4306 MY SANDWICH 😂😂😂
When Sobel here's Sinks thoughts onWinters as an officer you could see the wind go out of his sails. I think Sobel was hoping to go into combat with Sink as his XO. That spaghetti scene followed by another run was just a nasty move on the part of Sobel. I'm surprised no one tried to drag him after that incident.
He’s one of those guys who calls everything “mine” of course.
If you’re in the army. The phase “ no pass “ hits a soldier hard 🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲
This is before Ross lost his bearings and cut a god damn fence.😀😀
I think the fence incident finally was the last straw for sink. Because it directly impacted a resident of the host country negatively. No way sink would let that one slide. Besides his other failings, of course.
That “friends” actor was incredible in BOB.
sobel tried killing himself but failed so he spent the rest of his life as a vegetable
lol no one deserves to die like that especially the teacher of e company
Which vegetable did he spend his life as?
Actually, NCO's are the trainers in the US Army.
@@ffjsb what are you smoking, sobel trained e-company as an officer
@@MontyQueues it's clear that you've never been in the US Army. Company Commanders don't do the training, they facilitate it. Sobel just did extra vindictive shit to fuck with the troops and make himself look better.
@@ffjsb You need to read the autobiographies of the men of Easy Company, who specifically name Captain Sobel as the one who trained them. In fact, they begrudgingly attribute their success due to his training, even if they also said he was petty and vindictive
Always gets me how that First sergeant looks about 17.
Always gets me that they chose Simon Pegg of all people lol.
This was war time however it was incredibly easy to get promoted back then now you have pretty much reinvent the wheel to rank up
Did easy company ever get weekend passes in their whole training?
If you suddenly see really good food in the mess hall beware, pain will likely follow. Good thing to know before the 10 mile hike to the gas chamber
1:30 - Oh look, Lt. Cmdr. Queeig found his strawberries after all.
Only us old guys will know get the meaning of this...LOL
@@jamespotter936
And I made it extra hard because I misspelled Queeg ... SMH
Jeor "Fookin" Mormont used to ride me like this.
To be fair you’re a creepy little freak with a stupid accent so I can’t say I blame him
Ah yes. Your weekend pass is revoked😂
2:11 staring at the camera, lol
A company commander doing a barracks inspection is micromanagement to the fucking highest degree!
For everyone who does not know, He wanted them to eat spaghetti because he was really gonna make them run. Spaghetti comes up easy.
Without Sobel Easy company wouldn't have been what it was
Actually they're dropped call was Geronimo there's several pictures of Native American paratroopers during World War II and Geronimo was there call not is what this movie says
John Does it was geronimo, reference to a movie by white paratroopers who saw the the film of the same name on leave. It wasnt because of an ethnic native influence but a Hollywood film.
This isn't a movie, lol
Similar thing in OSUT 2017, 80 years into the future. Had the drills load us up with cottage cheese and whatever else the mess was serving. Smoked us up and down hills for miles, vomiting everywhere. I vaguely remember seeing someone vomiting into a drain grate with a drill sergeant yelling into a megaphone, "HIDE YOUR SHAME" so the private started scooping the vomit up and into his pockets. Good times. It's a shame to see what our American military has become these days... Disrespectful to the men and women who sacrificed and fought so hard to become stronger, faster people. Shameful.
The one where Ross does a surprisingly good job training a group of men for combat but then blows any built up goodwill by giving in to his insecurities and not knowing to take his foot off the pedal