MovieChat Forums > M*A*S*H (1972) Discussion > How many enlisted men were at the 4077th...

How many enlisted men were at the 4077th?

posted 8 years ago by monkeyalien
10 replies | jump to latest

It seems like they'd come out of the woodwork for meals, movies, a bug out, digging latrines/foxholes, to move patients on litters, or the opening scene to load the choppers, and yet other times it was as if there was little more than Radar, Klinger, Igor, Goldberg, a supply sergeant, and a cook. The enlisted mens' quarters are mentioned a few times, but nothing big enough to hold a few dozen people is never shown. Klinger seems to represent a lot of enlisted men as he's been show doing entry duty, KP, digging latrines/foxholes, and being a medic. Maybe that's why he'd have his own tent or share a tent with just one other guy. Sometimes officers and even nurses would do what should be assigned to enlisted personnel, such as cleaning the O.R. or securing the water tower.

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[–] crockett_john 8 years ago

Yep, there should have been a lot more of everything, including doctors, nurses, and enlisted men. I think the show really just exercised an economy of details and an economy of resources. I think it's also apparent when Colonel Potter says he needs all his officers to report to his office, but only the three doctors, the chaplain, and the head nurse show up.

Also, the mess tent is supposedly the officers' mess and the showers have some really limited hours for as many people as there should have been in the camp.

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[–] monkeyalien 8 years ago

True. Radar also should have had a staff to at least cover the phone/radio 24/7 as was shown in the movie. Funny how we never saw the guy doing the announcements. I thought it weird that neither Radar nor Klinger found a way to make a private room adjacent to the office in which to sleep while still being within earshot of the ringing phone.

Potter's first meeting always bothered me for that reason because officers includes nurses and dentists. Also unbelievable that he was okay with his XO not showing up for the meeting or surgery. The officers' mess being open to everyone could be attributed to a manner of convenience and acceptance, just like the officers' club. You're right about the showers too, which aren't really shown to be segregated by rank but should be in near-constant with so many people on opposite and fluctuating schedules.

Two other issues I've had relating to the 4077's chronic lack of enlisted personnel:

1) They have no dedicated combat personnel, beyond infrequently seen guards, to deal with enemy infiltrators and snipers. One might think they'd have a few guys with combat experience, possibly with one or two serious injuries under their belt such that they've undeniably earned easier duty, around to patrol the area and deal with close threats.

2) They rely on headquarters to supply them with heating fuel and even firewood while they're surrounded by trees and should have plenty of men to fell, split, and haul firewood. It's not the safest idea to be in the wilderness three miles front the front lines in a war zone, but it'd be safer with the aforementioned combat personnel patrolling and standing guard. Quickly drop a tree, haul it back to camp, split it, and bystanders can carry the wood to it's final destination.

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[–] hifijohn 8 years ago

do you know how wet a newly felled tree is??? it would never burn,firewood is allowed to dry for some time before you can use it for firewood

[–] justxme 8 years ago

Yep, there should have been a lot more of everything, including doctors, nurses, and enlisted men.

That's how it's done in other shows as well. According to Wikipedia, the prisoner camp in "Hogan's Heros" has 103 inmates at the start of the show and grows over time. Still, it's only Colonel Hogan and five other Allied soldiers who play important roles, all others are just background actors. Same with the Germans: there it's only Colonel Klink and Seargent Schulz. All other Germans are recurring characters or extras.

Maybe the film makers can't or don't want to pay any more leading actors, maybe they want to keep the stories simple (we're talking about 25 minute episodes here, after all!), I don't know. I think I've read that both Alan Alda ("Hawkeye") as well as Bob Crane ("Col. Hogan") saw themselves as the stars of their shows and probably didn't want to lose more screentime to other actors.

What I know is that the "X-Files" have been criticised for their confusing plot with several characters appearing, disappearing, reappearing etc. The movie "Heat" with Al Pacino and Robert de Niro is almost three hours long, and people have complained on this homepage that it doesn't concentrate on it's cop against gangster plot but also elaborates on the private lifes of several characters.

[–] indy_go_blue44 8 years ago

Add to that Star Trek Next Generation where there's supposed to over 400 people on board but rarely do you see more than a dozen (rare that you see even a dozen) and everything seems to center around or happen to the half dozen stars.

MASH is a microcosm based on the set size(s) and budget which centers around its half dozen stars with exceptions. I read that during the first season they actually eliminated those "permanently assigned to the 4077" because they didn't have enough room on some of the sets for all the actors. What purpose would it serve to have a half dozen doctors, dozens of nurses, and hundreds of enlisted people wandering around when the stories are about the regulars and the few extras and guests who do have a part in the story?

[–] randbanks 8 years ago

Actually Enterprise D on TNG has over 1000 on the ship.

The staff at the 4077th is similar to the crew on 1701-D in that they are a true microcosm of the actual full staff of 4077th, and 1701. In the first season the cut down the number of doctors. Every things I've read and seen about the real M*A*S*H units show that there are a dozen doctors or more, and the staff is in the hundreds.

Heck even other medical shows are the same way. Look at one of my favorite shows ever, St. Elsewhere. There were a small cast of main members, but the hospital itself was gigantic with hundreds of nurses, doctors, and more.

Shows like these are meant to show how an operation works. to show a full staff on any medical show would be very hard since there would be dozens and dozens of main stars
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[–] poem 8 years ago

AFAIK the only reason they dropped the black doctor (Spearchucker) was because some historian said there havent been black doctors in the army at that time.

I think that was a really, really stupid reason to drop the black doctor. He seemed like a cool dude and would have been a very interesting addition.

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[–] randbanks 8 years ago

That was one of the reasons that they dropped Spearchucker. The writers have said that they also wanted to cut down on the number of doctors so they could do more with fewer characters to concentrate on.

Destroying an empire to win a war is no victory and ending a battle to save an empire is no defeat

[–] indy_go_blue44 8 years ago

Right. The STO Enterprise had the 400+.

You're absolutely right about staff sizes. The first large hospital, Carle Clinic/Hospital, Urbana, IL. I worked in after becoming an RN had some 150 or so doctors on staff in all specialties and probably over 3 or 400 nurses... that doesn't include those working at the attached clinic. Add in the ancillary, housekeeping and maintenance people it was well over 1,000 people in 1980; the damn thing is probably twice that size now. Even the Cardiac ICU I worked in had about 15 nurses working 3 shifts plus a dozen cardiologists, neurologists and respiratory specialists.

It'd be hard to make a tv show about that unless it was a "reality" show.

[–] 8 years ago

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