1952 - Evelyn Waugh - Men at Arms
"The normal relationship in the Halberdiers between platoon commander and sergeant was that of child and nannie. The sergeant should keep his officer out of mischief. The officer's job was to sign things, to take the blame and quite simply to walk ahead and get shot first".
1971 - Terry Pratchett - The Carpet People
"Most armies are in fact run by their sergeants — the officers are there just to give things a bit of tone and prevent warfare becoming a mere lower-class brawl."
1972-1983 - M*A*S*H
Radar O'Reilly. Need I say any more?
2000 - 2011 - Schlock Mercenary
Running gag throughout the archive of this monster web comic. The message that a good officer always listens to their sergeant is muted a bit in practice because Captain Tagon is such a badass and generally competent if ethically-challenged and short sighted. Sergeant Schlock, on the other hand, is an all-round psychopath who should only be listened to when collateral damage is not an issue!
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- Compare and contrast with: relationship between civil servants and elected ministers as hilariously portrayed in 'Yes Minister', 'Yes Prime Minister' and the brilliant 'In the Loop' which often shares a similar dynamic.
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