B.O.B "Currahee" - Capt Herbert Sobel

[aMarinedaughter]

I think this scene was the most important in making the character of Capt. Sobel real to viewers. I nearly cried the first time I saw it, where they zero in on his face, as he realizes that he has not going to lead Easy Company into battle. I have also read the book, and pretty much everything in the series about Sobel was accurate, including the spaghetti and Luz's imitation of Maj. Horton, resulting in his cutting the barbed wire fence in England.

[WolfhoundMercenary]

@aMarinedaughter You know, I think Ambrose vilified him a bit too much in the series/books.

[Kasino80]

David Schwimmer was fantastic in this role. He went far beyond the role of Ross and showed in what league he really belongs.

[aMarinedaughter]

@Kasino80 Amen to that! When I heard that someone from "Friends" was going to be in Band of Brothers, I thought that maybe it wasn't really the serious undertaking I had heard it was. However, I think he was absolutely perfect for what I am sure was a very challenging role. I thought he should have had an Emmy nomination for it.

[Marcusx1980]

Captain Sobel was an excellent drill commander but lacked battle skills.

However he did make easy company what they are.

And I felt sorry for him. Seing your soldiers rising in rank faster than yourself is bloody painfull. Being an ex officer myself.

[dano7411]

Seen it many times in the military. Square peg in a round hole. People can do great things, if they are put in a job that matches their skills. When mismatched, it causes misery. Also, people tend to get promoted to their level of incompetence. Meaning someone is a good team leader, so them get promoted to squad leader. They do good at that, so they get moved up to flight (platoon) leader. If the suck at that, they don't put them back down to where they were good, they move them over.

[98vanguard]

what's the name of the music playing at 2:10?

[littlemisshedgehog]

2:03 "Zoo Transfer?! Oh no no no I can't be transferred! I have an appointment with Dr. Goldburg at five! And I am not going HMO!"

Oooh dear, sorry, I had to.

[Jomokb76]

Did captain sobel jump with his easy company on D-Day?

[freebeerfordworkers]

@Jomokb76 According ti Wikipedia he did, but he was posted out to command the jump school soon afterwards. This suggests that the "mutiny" occurred in the field and was much more serious. Perhaps he did something in France that the army wanted to keep quiet? Perhaps screwed up in combat and got some guys needlessly killed?

[tallchef9]

Sobel was great in the short term, training the men, getting them into shape. But we was a weak man at heart who couldn't notice where we was weak to work on it, and out of being jealous with winters he was always trying to push him down, and keep him in check.

[helmuthoorn]

That col. was absoluteley spot on in his decision!

Although these NCO-s probably saved Sobels ass they had to be lectured and disciplined

But it was mostly barking and not biting.

Nobody got courtmarshalled, only one of them was busted back and the other one got a transfer.

[suburbannegro411]

2:07 Ross puppy dog eyes :(

[GazzerGNET]

Not qualified to say anything but I think he was a brilliant training officer in spite the belief of him being a poor combat leader.

[HorseWaterDrink]

can you imagine after Soble got transfered , those poor guys that he trained next.

[SoulControllerAve]

"Captain Sobel, you cut that fence and get this goddamn platoon on the move!!"

[TheWackadooFuckhead]

when the fuck did ross from friends join the military?

[gopconservative78]

@TheWackadooFuckhead after Rachel raped him

[thestranger4812]

Amazing actor, criminally underrated.

[gopconservative78]

Sobel may have been a prick but without him, Easy Company would have been ripped apart at Normandy. Sobel would be someone you would WANT to be trained to be the best.

[tehBLAX]

now type in youtube "band of brothers salute the rank not the man" and you will get that scene

[InStyle9]

EVERY man who fought for us in the second world war is a HERO.

[thestranger4812]

@InStyle9

Even the ones that raped civilians?

[preciousssperson]

i know he was a kind of asshole but i cant be mad at the guy who played ross from friends

[BrigGeneralRipper]

Can anyone tell me who the lead non-com is portraying? I think at this point in the series he's a sgt. I find a lot of info on winters and sobel but not any of the non-coms.

[egdqv13234]

Captain sobel! you salut the men not the rank!''

[p8ntbawlr210]

@egdqv13234 "you salute the rank, not the man"

[bigrob981]

if sobel had been allowed to stay...he would have killed most of these men.

he could not even read a map....

he worked thier asses off and made them hate him....if in your eyes that means he "made them'....FINE.

the real reason these men were great was the leadrship of winters, and the non-comms.

there is more leadership than making your men runs an extra 10 miles a day..

[Virtus9]

Capt. Sobel? Read Beyond the Band of Brothers by Major Dick Winters. Were Sobel's battlefield strategies studied at West Point? Was Sobel decorated for bravery? Was Sobel respected by his men? Please. "My father's relative" sounds like "my dog ate mine" and "I'm a snot nosed punk that doesn't know my ass from my elbow."

[00RSZEX]

agreed. Sobel was no leader in the field. However, even though he was commissioned through the National Guard, he was still the main reason why these men made it as far as they did. They constant discipline, training (even though most of it punishment) kept those very men alive. EVEN in the books, Winters claims that Sobel "Made" Easy Company. Give him some credit.

[EasyCompanyAirborne]

Herbert Sobel was a commander in Easy Company. He must have been a top commander to get selected for this position. The top men parachutists like Captain Sobel were personally mentored by Colonel Marshall, an aide to General Pershing himself! I know this, as my faher's relative was trained by Colonel Marshall. In order to obtain a command position in Easy Company, Sobel would have already published papers on strategy. He was a fine mind, as all US commanders were at the time.

[bonnerje]

Sobel is a classic example of someone in a position of authority but has a total lack of leadership ability. He's an administrator, not a leader.

[Shadowz41]

@bonnerje The McClellan of WWII :P

[TheRingil]

I'm not a huge fan of Sobel, but he does deserve credit where it's due.

Many veteran members of Easy Company going all the way back to Toccoa acknowledged it was Sobel's harsh training that kept them alive.

His poor grasp of military tactics aside, he was essential to the success of Easy Company.

Nonetheless, Sink was wise to remove him from a tactical command. Sobel's talents simply lay elsewhere, however much it spited him.

[snotshooter]

do you guys suppose that Sink did this on purpose because he knew something that he didn't like or what just want your opinion.

[wendel88]

@snotshooter Sink must have know about this stuff. when all NCOs give up their status because of this guy..then you understand that he wouldnt work in battle. alot of pointes went Sinks way..im sure he understood what the NCOs were talking about. fine move by him..Sobel would have died early in the war anyway if he had jumped with easy on D-day.

[Evil6mp]

All you idiots probably didn't serve in combat and probably fellow officers who can't read a map either! You don't need to lead like this. You lead by example which he didn't!

[kpz1234]

The kind of leadership Sobel showed in training may have been overbearing, but it was vital in making all the men of Easy Company feel as if it was "them against the world", resulting in a unit with an extremely high amount of esprit-de-corps.

[shouavaj12]

I felt bad for Cap . Sobel sure he made of had a few flaws but he was a soldier battle harden his men he was god's warrior and he desserve at least somone to attend his deaf he was a soldier who deserve the utmost respect.

Rest in piece my friend.

[quest8899]

YOu shouldnt feel sorry for him, Sobel should feel relieved he never had to participate in combat during ww2.

[magpie1862]

In the end, I felt sorry for Sobel. He's an arsehole, but he obviously struggled with map reading and tactics and being an arsehole seems to be his way of coping with it.

[michaelkrois]

No one came to his funeral, i bet the Easy Company wouldnt have survived, if he wasnt that asshole in training

[tehBLAX]

@michaelkrois no one went to his funeral? are you serious..

[VanargrandsEnd]

@tehBLAX they didnt go to his fruneral because there was no service, he died of malnutrition.

[MystikBeast]

Sobel was an insecure bastard.

[nicholasbang]

all officers are strict you can't expect barbie dolls treatment in the army

[MystikBeast]

Certainly not, but Sobel would have led them to their deaths no doubt. Unfortunately later on they still had to put up with bad leadership.

[JSA1957]

Sorry Sobel 'Ol buddy but you deserved it.

[PrettyTigerlilly]

Some people excell in diff things.