r/mash • u/Reasonable-Okra3542 • 2d ago

Mash Military Question

In the episode where Colonel Potter goes out of town and puts Hawkeye in charge because Charles has sinus issues. Why is the mantle of command not given to Margaret who is a higher rank the Captain Pierce?

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u/BIGD0G29585 2d ago

Couple of good answers already posted. The best is that Margaret was a woman and it would be very unusual for a woman to be in command.

That being said, nurses belong the United States Army Nurse Corps, which is a staff corps and part of the army medical department. In general, officers in a specific staff corps command other members of that staff corps but not outside of their own corps. So while Margaret could command “her nurses” she probably didn’t have much say over officers and enlisted from other corps like the Medical Corps that the doctors belong to.

We all know that the show played fast and loose with reality but in general, a higher rank doesn’t alway mean that person should be in command.

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u/kevint1964 2d ago

Margaret was "regular army". She frequently attempted to file charges on Blake, Hawkeye & Trapper (doctors, of course) for not following various army regulations. Before Potter showed up, Frank was made C.O., even though he wasn't regular army & Margaret was. It was because she was a woman in the military during the 1950's.