I have a question that I’m betting one of you can answer. I was watching an old rerun of “Gomer Pyle” this morning, and it occurred to me that I don’t know, nor, I believe, is it ever dealt with in the show, what exactly is Gomer Pyle’s M.O.S., (military occupational specialty),? About the only thing you see old Gomer do is rake leaves and pick up trash around the barracks. Also, How in the hell does everyone get away with calling Master Gunnery Sergeant Carter “Sarge” , an offense that would mean instant death in the real Corps. (I know, I was in the Corps.!)
“Shazam!”
He was on a TV show so he musta been in public affairs.
“Surprise, surprise, surprise.”
Well, this will probably migrate over to Cafe Society, but Gomer Pyle’s Marine Corps duty was always vague.
One thing that was never explained was why no one ever seemed to go over to Vietnam.
Gomer was likely given a long leash by Sgt. Carter since he was such a good-natured, yet infuriating guy.
I don’t know about Gomer’s MOS, but I do know that any non commissioned officer above the rank of Staff sargeant never personally dealt with E-1 thru E-3, except to council them, and generally acted as liason to the company commander or higher. Also, “Sgt.” Carter, would NEVER Have been a drill instructor, then shipped out with the recruits he’d trained to become their platoon sgt., a platoon sgt was usually a Staff sargeant, sometimes a sargeant, never a gunny. the Gunny was in charge of all the platoons in a company, and platoon sgts answered to them, if my ancient memory serves.
I thought Gomer was in perpetual training . . .
I also thought he got away with being so, well, Mayberryish because Sheriff Andy Taylor tricked “Sarge” into thinking Gomer was the son of some bigshot Marine General . . . I know this happened in one of the Andy Griffith Show episodes, but I’m not sure if Sarge ever found out the truth (I vaguely remember that he did, but God, this all happened about a million years ago).
Anyway, when Gomer was the son of General Pyle, he couldn’t fail–Sergeant Carter didn’t want to flunk out the bossman’s kid. Also, at one point, Sergeant Carter thought Gomer’s incompetance was a test. At another point I remember Sergeant Carter saying something to the effect of, “If I can turn this guy into a Marine, I can turn anybody into a Marine . . .”
BTW, the USMC recently promoted Gomer to Corporal.
Dating Miss Bunny.
Wow, you must have some serious cognitive turmoil whenever you watch Hogan’s Heros.
Questions about fictional characters do best in Cafe Society, so I’ll move this thread over there.
To see Gomer’s roots, watch the movie No Time for Sergeants . Andy Griffith plays the Gomer Pyle character, and the military psychiatrist is played by Don Knotts.
All the useful knowledge I could contain in my brain, and I know this…
Hey lost4life-Where did you get your username? It seems familar…
Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle -
Isn’t the military’s policy: “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell” about this marine’s MOS?
Check here:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=53582&perpage=50&pagenumber=3
I always assumed he was infantry; that’s the only thing I’ve ever seen him train for.