While I was not working at McMurdo Station. Antarctica, I was just over the hill at Scott Base and used to visit a lot.
Anyway, the officer commanding the base over winter was universally hated by his men, and near the end of the winter, just before the change over of all personnel, the lower ranks had a party ( to which I was fortunate enough to be invited ) at which the officer was continuously insulted by each and all ( he wasn’t there, of course ).
Most enjoyable experience.
LTJG Bell was an obnoxious little banty rooster of an officer, with a short guy attitude. During homeport he was the bane of the troops, nitpicking them to death and always whining about not being shown due respect as an officer. He was also a nervous sort. The battalion deployed to Puerto Rico, where the barracks consisted of a large number of sea huts, which provided a lot of hiding places for a great prank. Guys would spot him walking somewhere and hide around a corner somewhere in his route.
As he approached the corner, the guy would suddenly jump out and scream “GOOD MORNING, SIR!” and throw a snappy salute. Bell would nearly fall over from the shock and became a haunted man who jumped at shadows before long. To his credit, he learned his lesson fairly quickly and became a more reasonable officer.
Once, while out on a “nature hike”, I told the Papa Sierra he was a REMF. HIs face turned an amazing shade of red before I said, “I’ve been on point for 2 hours now, and when I’ve got the point, EVERYBODY else is a REMF.” He started breathing normally then, said, “I gotta give you that.” and transferred me to the rear.