Leaders, What is Your Opinion on the Portrayal of CPT Sobel in Band of Brothers?

SPC July Macias The mini series did not get into the depth of dislike and derision with which Cpt Sobel was held by the NCOs in the company. Ambrose's book hit these points in a number of chapters, which the series missed altogether. This lack of detail makes it difficult to rate him as a leader. My uninformed view is that he was an effective trainer, but for a variety of reasons, was not a respected leader.

Having them eat spaghetti and then go run up there he'll and vomit was not my view of showing leadership qualities. Also, he did not salute major Winters later in the show. Sure, this could have all been made up just for the series but I considered that's company Commander to be very sadistic not to mention that he didn't listen to his subordinates and he was captured over there at Camp McCall by the opposing forces.

Having watched the series when it first came out and then reading the book Ambrose wrote (that the series was based on)...CPT Sobel was an asshole, yes. BUT.....even the men of Easy had attributed their ability to survive the hardships of war because of his tough training/leadership. I haven't read any of the books written by Winters or others telling their specific tales, but from what I understand, CPT Sobel was not painted well in those other books...as told by the men. Seriously, though. We weren't there so we have only what we can read and watch to go off of.

In both the book and in the movie CPT Sobel was universally disliked. Some of the stuff he pulled just wasn't good leadership and didn't promote teamwork. You can be strict and enforce standards without being a horses butt.
I read that he fought again in the Korean war and made LTC but later shot himself in the head attempting suicide.
I don't feel sorry for him being depicted accurately by the Soldiers in their interviews or later in the movie. You reap what you sow. I do feel sorry for his family as his behavior and his actions have left them with that portrayal as their legacy.
Be hard, be fair, treat folks decent and lead from the front and you don't have to worry about being portrayed or remembered as being an ass.

I've heard it's spot on and if you watch any of the interviews they did with the actual soldiers who served with him - they were glad he was hard on him. They credit his harshness with PT for being able to endure what they did during combat. But they said he wasn't a good leader and no one trusted them to lead them into combat. He was tactically incompetent. He never tried to even learn field tactics. No one respected him nor did any of his NCOs trust him. None of the officers trusted him. He may have physically prepared them for the adversities they faced in battle but overall, he was a shit leader and any interview you find with them they nearly all say that. They credit him for the PT but that's it. They still hated him even after the war. He was apparently a better staff officer than a tactical officer.

Here's this: "Most of the men of E Company were in agreement after the series was made that Schwimmer had that character down. Sobel was thoroughly hated by the men of E Company. He was truly “chickens**t,” a name soldiers use for a superior who not only goes by the book but attempts to write their own chapter of it."
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/e-company-band-of-brothers.html

And if you look up Ambrose's book there's an excerpt that mentions how Sobel had a lot of mental issues after the war. He disappeared from sight. Married, had two sons, divorced and was estranged from his kids. Worked as an accountant for an appliance store in Chicago. In the 60s. MAJ Clarence Hester had lunch with Sobel, and Sobel seemed pretty bitter toward E Company and life in general. 20 years after that, Guarnere tried to find Sobel and found his sister who said Sobel was in "bad mental condition and directed his rage at the men of E Company." Guarnere was head of the 101st Association at the time, that's why he went to find him. But he paid Sobel's dues to the association in an attempt to get him involved. Nothing happened and shortly after is when Sobel shot himself. He survived that attempt and died in 1988. No one came to his funeral, not his ex wife, not his kids and no one from E Company came.

So I think that pretty much sums up that no, Schwimmer didn't exaggerate his portrayal of Sobel. Everyone in Easy hated Sobel and he hated them. They did give him credit where it was due for the physical training aspect but that's it.

The argument could be made that he was an excellent task master and was a strict officer who held fitness a over all else.

But you could also call him a dilettante who was more focused on the glory of combat instead of being an efficient Infantry Leader. He lacked the skillcraft to be successful as an Infantry Officer which is what led him to be reassigned to a training position where his skills would be useful. He wanted to be in charge and manipulate people but that’s not really want the infantry is about. At least not in wartime

I enjoyed this mini-series and having been an NCO and Officer. CPT Soble's leadership style created some successes in physical readiness while utilizing poor methodologies that did not foster respect. Great leadership will develop a collective drive that will cause the individual to change their perspective and enhance the team approach to success. I fully recognize that preparing for and engaging in war requires changes that may require restrictive actions to ensure compliance, but I also know that Soldiers crave great leadership. Shaming, disrespectful actions and not supporting of NCO Leadership will create an environment that will break down unit capabilities and lead to unsuccessful commands.

I can’t judge, because movies and shows are normally exaggerated and I’ve read very little of the BoB book. But with that being said, I’ve known NCOs and Officers who were great in garrison and in training, but were lousy downrange. You can hide a lot in training and in garrison….you can hide when it’s time to really execute. Big difference.

I can say from my own experience that he is the example many of us have seen about officers or leaders in general. Some people have no people skills but may be good at other things like organizing and paperwork. Its the rare few that posess it all and those guys stick out and we remember them long after we leave the service.

There are several accounts available on the web that confirm or deny various scenes in the miniseries, including:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Sobel
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/e-company-band-of-brothers.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/Military/comments/6eno9n/why_wasnt_herbert_sobel_given_a_military_service/
https://wikiofbrothers.fandom.com/wiki/Historical_Inaccuracies
https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Norman_Dike

My father was commissioned in 1942 as an artillery officer, and participated in the retaking of the Aleutian Islands. Things were much different then, because his privates had only a 6th grade education and his NCOs rarely had more than an 8th grade education. Training back then was a 2LT with no actual experience reading from a manual to teach his men how to operate, in my dad's case, a 105 mm towed howitzer.

Of the two islands taken, one had been abandoned by the Japanese before the 7th Infantry Division could get there. They still suffered about 300 casualties, many because of soldiers who lost their grip on the scrambling nets while getting into landing craft, fell into the water, and drowned. My father took this very hard, because it was his job to see the men trained, but he didn't know any more than they did what the dangers were of climbing down a net into a rocking boat.

For this reason, I am somewhat sympathetic to Sobel. He was an a$$hole, but E company men credited him with toughening them up enough to survive the rigors of war. His biggest mistake was believing he had to be an expert at everything, refusing to ask for help when he was not competent (for example his map reading skills.)