Colonel Robert F Sink - The Sadistic Godfather of Easy Company & The 506th PIR (Band of Brothers)
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- Опубликовано: 15 июн 2024
- Colonel Sink was the founder of the 506th PIR before it joined the 101st airborne. Sink led with an iron fist which led to almost 3/4 of the men joining parachute training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia washing out of the program.
Was Sink doing the right thing as a CO or was he too extreme in his command?
I was an infantryman in Vietnam. I would have hated serving under Sink and Sobel. He's the kind of officer who would have rejected Audie Murphy because he was too young and too small. He would have tried to imprison Desmond Dawes.
It’s occurred to me that Sink’s conduct of inflicting Captain Sobel on the men of Easy Company, having the hated Captain do all the dirty work then eventually removing Sobel had a Machiavellian flavour. Colonel Sink was able to assert his authority and present himself as a saviour even though Sobel’s harshness would have met with Sink’s approval at virtually all material times.
I’ve seen it written that Colonel sink turned down promotion after promotion in order to stay the regimental commander at the 506th. It seems to me that this can be looked at under two lights. The first, that he was dedicated to this unit that he had created and did not want to entrust it to anybody else. However as a professional officer with 28 years of military service; part of me wonders if he was afraid to leave the comfort of the bubble that he had created. If you never leave the area that is eliminated by the unit’s light, he would never have had to venture into the dark! Part of my assessment….well, it seems to me that he was afraid adventuring into the dark and insulated himself with “his regiment”. I may be wrong…. maybe. But my assessment comes from the fact that 24 of my 28 years was in airborne units; 14 were in special forces units, 10 were in other Special Operations units; it never once occurred to me to hide out in a unit and not progress.
You can see what the Army thought of Sink by his career. He was the only regimental commander in the 101st to Command his regiment throughout the war. After the war, while promoted, he didn't get command of an active-duty division; he got reserve divisions.
My father was Deputy Provost Marshall in the 18th A/B Corp at Fort Bragg when Gen. Sink was Post Commander. I personally shook hands with him three times. What your film left out was the fact that Sink was ordered to train a Regiment as tough as the German SS. I think he did a pretty good job. Also the military experts all said that the Airborne was a suicide mission, but look at the number of men who survived. I cannot say anything bad about the man.
Did Sink ever find out his order was ignored? Not during the war but in life? That reaction would've been gold 😂😂
Having a highly specialized fighting unit is not about fair, it's about having a highly specialized fighting unit. Sobel is on my top 3 greatest Chicagoans of all time even if his contribution to winning the war was an inadvertent one. We are in middle of creating an entire generation that is adept at criticizing and nothing else of any value.
Herbert Sobel deserves respect and not the derision he's gotten since Stephen E Ambrose's book came out. He did his bit, served in combat, was awarded citations for bravery.
Sink sounds very similar to Sobel. Ater hearing this it makes more sense that Sobel was selected as a Captain in the 506th. Also, I cant even begin to imagine how pissed off Col. Sink was when the NCO’s refused to serve under Captain Sobel.
I was a founding member of the 2/506 when they reactivated it at Ft Campbell in 05, all the easy company guys that were still able to travel were there And I talked with them all at one point, never mentioned Sink and nor do I recall any of the unit history mentioning his name. I’m sure Brigade HQ had his picture up somewhere but if it weren’t for the show I’d never know who he was.
Here is a quote from Sun Tzu in his book "The Art of War," ch. "On the March" (written roughly 500 b.c.) regarding Leadership:
It was certainly a sobering video. It’s also enlightening to learn the opinions of a variety of characters from Private David Webster to Winters and Speirs. Thank you for providing so many anecdotes from a variety of sources!
How despicable. Not only was Sink punishing his men for something they had no control over but he was punishing them for spending what little free time they had been given to be with their families. Many for the last time.
Since they had Dale Dye play him in Band of Brothers I always liked him.
Hopefully, the men that were kicked out of the 506th for being late found a place in the 82nd.
History may be written by the victors, but it is most certainly maintained by efforts such as this. Great vid
Another enjoyable and interesting post 👍
I just finished, "Band of Brothers," a couple of months ago - over 20 years after its first airing. It deserves its reputation.
Like Sobel, the Sinks of the World are everywhere. Sadly many are from West Point and Annapolis. Guys like Sink are only as successful as the men under them. Sink was rich with talent and therefore could afford to play games. Concerning Sobel and Winters. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Excellent work here!!!!!!
Having spent 30 years in the Army and commanded at company, battalion and brigade level I can safely say that leadership and command is on the job training.