History Main / CorruptQuartermaster

** In [[Recap/MashS8E4GoodByeRadarPt2 "Good-Bye Radar Part 2"]], Klinger gets a quartermaster to sell him an electrical generator because the camp's main generator is broken and the backup one is missing. Just before they complete the deal the Colonel of the unit which is supposed to get the generator shows up in person because several of their requests for generators have "mysteriously disappeared." The colonel even mentions that they're making do with a backup generator they stole from a M*A*S*H unit. Klinger promptly steals it right back, which finally convinces Radar [[PassingTheTorch that the 4077th is fine without him]].

** In [[Recap/MashS8E4GoodByeRadarPart2 "Good-Bye Radar part 2"]], Klinger gets a quartermaster to sell him an electrical generator because the camp's main generator is broken and the backup one is missing. Just before they complete the deal the Colonel of the unit which is supposed to get the generator shows up in person because several of their requests for generators have "mysteriously disappeared." The colonel even mentions that they're making do with a backup generator they stole from a M*A*S*H unit. Klinger promptly steals it right back, which finally convinces Radar [[PassingTheTorch that the 4077th is fine without him]].

* In the ''Series/{{MASH}}'' episode "[[Recap/MashS2E12TheIncubator The Incubator]]", Hawkeye and Trapper John run into one of these, who is hoarding several of the incubators that they need, but refuses to release one. In another episode, Klinger gets a quartermaster to sell him an electrical generator because the camp's main generator is broken and the backup one is missing. Just before they complete the deal the Colonel of the unit which is supposed to get the generator shows up in person because several of their requests for generators have "mysteriously disappeared." The colonel even mentions that they're making do with a backup generator they stole from a M*A*S*H unit. Klinger promptly steals it right back.

Compare TheScrounger, which may overlap

* ''ComicBook/PunisherThePlatoon'': Donald is as corrupt as they come, which Frank takes advantage of by setting up a trade: Donald provides Frank's men with M-14s (rather than the craptastic M-16s) in exchange for AKs taken from dead Vietnamese soldiers (which he then supplies to the SoldiersInTheRear), and all it takes is [[DirtyCoward a significant look from Frank]] to ensure that no heroin goes to Frank's base. He also sells spare batteries to the locals and replaces them with the dead ones which are re-issued to the American soldiers, which nearly gets Frank's platoon killed in an ambush. He finally goes too far in screwing over other people, [[{{Fragging}} and is last seen waking up with a grenade on his pillow.]]

[[folder: Fan Works]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* Elwood, the VillainProtagonist of ''Film/BuffaloSoldiers'', is selling whatever he can from the military base he's a quartermaster of, always filling forms for way more than is actually used up. Things escalate when he goes from cleaning supplies and alike to ''a truckload of firearms'' that officially went missing in a freak accident. That's without mentioning the fact he's ''also'' running a local heroin market, which is why the accident happened in the first place. [[spoiler: In the end, he gets away with everything, and it's implied he will start the whole gig in a new base]].
* The quartermaster in ''{{Film/Glory}}'' keeps claiming he's out of shoes for the all-black 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, thinking it's funny to leave them either barefoot or getting infections from very worn shoes. Eventually Colonel Shaw loses his patience and has the entrance to the store blocked, trapping the quartermaster inside with him while he wrecks the store until the quartermaster is cowed into giving him the shoes.
* In ''Film/KellysHeroes'', "Crapgame" is an opportunistic supply sergeant who will do anything for money and illegally provides the equipment needed for the raid on the bank storing the Nazi gold. Which includes ''handful of halftrucks'', among other things.
* Played with in ''Film/LordOfWar''. Yuri's uncle is an honest general who is only roped into arms trading by family connections. It is [[ArmsDealer Yuri]] that convinces him to fill out the paperwork, claiming he's ''30 thousand'' rifles short and selling out many other pieces of materiel from the stockpile under his command. [[spoiler: Once he is killed, it's implied his replacement had far fewer scruples and went along with Yuri's demands]]. In fact, the main reason why Yuri is overjoyed about the fall of the USSR is not about politics, but the Soviet arsenal being all for grabs - while maintained by thoroughly corrupt quartermasters.

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Creator/BernardCornwell's novel ''Literature/BattleFlag'', set in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, introduces Captain Billy Blythe, who holds this position for a regiment of Northern States cavalry raised by public conscription. Galloway's Horse receives a massive cash donation from an Abolitionist preacher to buy its horses. Blythe, who in peacetime had been a horse dealer, is entrusted to buy mounts. but the horses when they arrive are a herd of elderly, mangy, knackered and blown remnants. Blythe defensively says the war has made it hard to get good horses. The suspicion grows that he has pocketed most of the money - but it cannot be proven. Blythe then goes on to be a notorious looter and rapist, who says to the hero, when there are no witnesses, that the only sane thing to do in a war is to get rich out of it. The hero vows to deal with him, but Blythe has powerful protectors.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''

** In ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', 'Threeparts' Scallops is a subversion. When the squad sees the shoddy, second-hand gear he has for them, they accuse him of having put aside the best goods so he can sell them off. Then he shows them his back room, full of ''worse'' gear - the war is going so badly for Borogravia that the best they can use to equip new units is mangled stuff other soldiers have died in.

* The ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' novel ''Hornblower and the Atropos''. Captain Hornblower discovers that some of the salt beef the Victualling Yards sent to his ship (the ''Atropos'') is inedible. The superintendent of the Victualling Yards asks that the barrels of bad beef be returned to him, apparently so he can palm them off on some other unfortunate ship's crew. Hornblower considers the possibility that he has some kind of financial interest in doing so, and punishes him by having the word "Condemned" branded on the barrels to warn any other ship they might be given to.
* ''Malicious Intent'', a ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' novel, has Caradoc Trevena seek out the person in his new command who's got a reputation for being a corrupt quartermaster. This is because his command is considered low priority on the supply chain and is therefore badly underequipped. He uses the quartermaster's connections to get vital equipment and upgrades to turn his command into an effective fighting unit.

* The protagonist of the ''Literature/{{McAuslan}}'' series is introduced to his new unit's quartermaster as the 'biggest rogue in the army.'

* In ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', Cao Cao ''creates one''. He is fully aware that he doesn't have enough food to take Yuan Shu via a siege, or the strength to assault his walls. So he orders the quartermaster to serve half-rations. When the soldiers complain and threaten to desert, Cao Cao has his generals announce that the quartermaster had been holding back vital supplies for himself and has him executed. After a feast, the men are strong and enthused enough to break through and force Yuan Shu to flee. [[PetTheDog Cao Cao does provide for the innocent quartermaster's family after this.]]
* In ''[[Literature/DetectiveJoeSandilands Ragtime In Simla]]'', an offscreen quartermaster is selling British military rifles to a Pathan tribe via the book's villain.

* In ''Literature/CodexAlera'', during Tavi's period as a Subtribune Logistica in the First Aleran Legion, he is assigned to find why the legionaires are complaining about reduced rations. He discovers that someone has forged slightly undersized measuring cups for the Legion's flour and that the excess flour has been sold on the black market. He traces it back to the Legion's Tribune Logistica, and the discovery spooks said Tribune into stopping his corrupt activities without anyone getting punished (and damaging the morale of the freshly-minted Legion).

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* In the ''Series/{{MASH}}'' episode ''The Incubator'', Hawkeye and Trapper John run into one of these, who is hoarding several of the incubators that they need, but refuses to release one. In another episode, Klinger gets a quartermaster to sell him an electrical generator because the camp's main generator is broken and the backup one is missing. Just before they complete the deal the Colonel of the unit which is supposed to get the generator shows up in person because several of their requests for generators have "mysteriously disappeared." The colonel even mentions that they're making do with a backup generator they stole from a M*A*S*H unit. Klinger promptly steals it right back.

[[folder: Music ]]

* The chanty "The Topman and the Afterguard" has the verse
-->Then I'll pray for the purser who gives us to eat,
-->Spew-burgoo, rank butter and musty horse meat,
-->With weevily old biscuit, while he gets the gain,
-->May the devil double triple damn him, says the afterguard, amen!

[[folder: Radio ]]

* ''Radio/TheNavyLark'' has Chief Petty Officer Pertwee, a man who has sold out of Navy Stores everything from blankets to battleships. Not only that but the Pertwee [[TheClan Clan]] has been selling Naval stores ever since the Battle of Trafalgar, its a tradition.

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* In ''VideoGame/EVEOnline'', player corporations (Read: Guilds) need players with logistics skills to move supplies where they're needed. This is vitally important but very boring grunt work that not many players want to do when they could be blowing up other players instead. So those that volunteer often are not background-checked properly before they're put into a position to siphon off massive amounts of goods that were supposed to be headed to a war effort.
* Sgt Daniel Contreras from ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is the New Californa Republic's quartermaster at their Camp [=McCarran=] outpost who exploits his position for personal gain smuggling guns and chems to clients in the Mojave Wasteland. If you complete his unmarked quest for him, he'll give you full access to his inventory and also gives you This Machine, one of the best rifles in the game. You can also rat him out to the base's officials (much sooner because you just have to hack his computer, while Contreras's questline has a minimum level to start) and still get This Machine.
** ''Videogame/{{Fallout 4}}'' has Proctor Teagan of the Brotherhood of Steel, who has a repeating quest for the player where he sends you to get food from the local wastelanders, preferring that you use force (though you can choose alternate options).
* The player assigned to the role of Quartermaster on ''VideoGame/SpaceStation13'' can usually be counted on to blow the entire station's budget on useless crap like crates full of monkeys. Things get even worse if the quartermaster is a traitor.
* Inverted in ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' with Sam Carter, who encourages JC to use non-lethal tactics and is one of the few members of [=UNATCO=] that isn't corrupt, sadistic, and/or [[spoiler:part of the conspiracy. He even refuses to defect with JC in the last mission in [=UNATCO=], insisting that the place is still ultimately good. He is eventually forced out at the end of the game though.]]
* Inverted in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'': One of the main reasons for the fall of Castle Vitharn in the ''Shivering Isles'' DLC, was because the keep's quartermaster was such a miser that he refused to give ''any'' of his equipment to Vitharn's defenders, even while it was under siege, out of fear that [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint they might be damaged or lost during the battle]]. Somewhat justified, since this ''is'' the realm of madness and everyone in the Isles has some form of neurosis; his just happened to be extreme perfectionism.

[[folder: Web Animation ]]

* In ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', the Reds repeatedly put layabout Grif in charge of their ammo, a task he never performs. Eventually, they expand [[ProfessionalButtKisser Simmons']] duties to "bringing extra ammo for when Grif forgets." However, when Grif and Simmons are sent to a new base (where Grif is in charge), he actually sells all their ammo to the Blues.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Rodney inverts this in ''{{WesternAnimation/Archer}}''. In contrast to the highly unprofessional staff at [=ISIS=], he is very by the book, and doesn't allow the team to take out weapons all willy-nilly as it was before he showed up. He does accept a handjob from Cheryl in exchange for a secret phone number however. At his worst, he is more of an ObstructiveBureaucrat than anything else. Becomes a straight version of this in season 6, when ISIS gets shut down he steals all the weapons from the armory and sets himself up as a very successful ArmsDealer.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Pursers in the era of WoodenShipsAndIronMen were notorious for this sort of behaviour, in part because they were paid poorly and semi-officially expected to do so. The officers and shipowners considered common sailors little better than animals, and didn't much care what their rations looked like (for the most part; officers like Horatio Hornblower did exist, but were rarer in life than fiction).
** The 1905 mutiny on the Russian battleship ''Potemkin'' ostensibly started over the quality of rations - the sailors were served borscht made out of rotten, maggot infested meat. Not only the purser insisted everything is ok, but the ship's surgeon was in it, too, ordering to simply clean the meat and cook it again. Things escalated in zero time.
* Nationalist China's army had to deal with plenty of these during the UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar. While China didn't have a robust arms industry like the other three Allied powers, they did receive foreign aid and produce enough weapons to fill entire warehouses ([[ReliablyUnreliableGuns quality of some of those guns]] is another subject). Their soldiers were also well-equipped, especially the troops of the central government and the Guangxi Clique. But due to rampant corruption, most NRA soldiers were poorly supplied, even the basics such as bandages, rations and spare ammunition. This was due to many, many quartermasters selling off equipment to the black market or other warlords, who would hoard them for their troops and often do a poor job of distributing said equipment. Nothing effective was done to solve or even curtail this problem, which lead to quartermasters happily selling several warehouses' worth of supplies to the Chinese Communists in the Chinese Civil War, while the central government's troops starved, watched their equipment break down, or ran out of ammo. In fact, the severe shortage of materiel was one of the main reasons why the initial Japanese offensive was so successful - once the [[EliteArmy "German" divisions of the NRA]] were lost in the Battle of Shanghai, there was ''nobody left'' with enough guns and ammo to meaningfully slow down the IJA advance.

* Early into the UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan, Soviet quartermasters saw nothing wrong with selling any man-portable materiel to the locals, thinking the war will be over in less than few months and thus wanting to make hay while the sun shines. Later into the war, quartermasters of the [[WithFriendsLikeThese "allied"]] Afghan Army saw nothing wrong with selling their own guns to the mujahideen forces - and not for ideological reasons, but for a quick buck - then filling papers to get replacements from the Soviets for equipment "lost in action".

* In ''Film/KellysHeroes'', "Crapgame" is an opportunistic supply sergeant who will do anything for money and illegally provides the equipment needed for the raid on the bank storing the Nazi gold

* In ''Film/KellysHeroes'', "Crapgame" is an opportunistic supply sergeant who will do anything for money and illegally provides the equipment needed for the raid on the bank storing the Nazi gold.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' [[spoiler: Sam Carter is one of the few members of [=UNATCO=] that isn't corrupt, sadistic, and/or part of the conspiracy. He even refuses to defect with JC in the last mission in [=UNATCO=], insisting that the place is still ultimately good. He is eventually forced out at the end of the game though.]]

[[Folder:Jokes]]

* In the ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' short story "The Smallest Detail," Ferik Jurgen and a local investigator catch a quartermaster who's selling food and weapons on the black market and fudging the records to hide this. Jurgen spots it immediately when he reads the inventory (the records were too perfect), but he's just there for a supply run and didn't think it was worth reporting until the quartermaster panicked and sent thugs after him.

* Nationalist China's army had to deal with plenty of these during the UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar. While the National Revolutionary Army wasn't the best-supplied, they did receive foreign aid and produce enough weapons to fill entire warehouses ([[ReliablyUnreliableGuns quality of those guns]] is another subject). However, most NRA soldiers barely received any new material in combat, even the basics such as bandages, rations and spare ammunition. This was due to many quartermasters selling off equipment to the black market or other warlords, who would hoard them from their troops. Nothing effective was done to solve or even curtail this problem, which lead to quartermasters happily selling several warehouses' worth of supplies to the Chinese Communists in the Chinese Civil War, while the central government's troops starved, watched their equipment break down, or ran out of ammo. In fact, the severe shortage of materiel was one of the main reasons why the initial Japanese offensive was so successful - once the [[EliteArmy "German" divisions of the NRA]] were lost in the Battle of Shanghai, there was ''nobody left'' with enough guns and ammo to meaningfully slow down the IJA advance.

* Nationalist China's army had to deal with plenty of these during the UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar. While the National Revolutionary Army wasn't the best-supplied, they did receive foreign aid and produce enough weapons to fill entire warehouses ([[ReliablyUnreliableGuns quality of those guns]] is another subject). However, most NRA soldiers barely received any new material in combat, even the basics such as bandages, rations and spare ammunition. This was due to many quartermasters selling off equipment to the black market or other warlords, who would hoard them from their troops. Nothing was done to solve this problem, which lead to quartermasters happily selling several warehouses' worth of supplies to the Chinese Communists in the Chinese Civil War, while the central government's troops starved, watched their equipment break down, or ran out of ammo. In fact, the severe shortage of materiel was one of the main reasons why the initial Japanese offensive was so successful - once the [[EliteArmy "German" divisions of the NRA]] were lost in the Battle of Shanghai, there was ''nobody left'' with enough guns and ammo to meaningfully slow down the IJA advance.

* Nationalist China's army had to deal with plenty of these during the UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar. While the National Revolutionary Army wasn't the best-supplied, they did receive foreign aid and produce enough weapons to fill entire warehouses ([[ReliablyUnreliableGuns quality of those guns]] is another subject). However, most NRA soldiers barely received any new material in combat, even the basics such as bandages, rations and spare ammunition. This was due to many quartermasters selling off equipment to the black market or other warlords, who would hoard them from their troops. Nothing was done to solve this problem, which lead to quartermasters happily selling several warehouses' worth of supplies to the Chinese Communists in the Chinese Civil War, while the central government's troops starved, watched their equipment break down, or ran out of ammo. In fact, the severe shortage of materiel was one of the main reasons why the initial Japanese offensive was so successful - once the [[EliteArmy "German" divisions of the NRA]] were lost in the Battle of Shanghai, there was ''nobody left'' with guns and ammo to even slow down the IJA advance.

* Nationalist China's army had to deal with plenty of these during the UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar. While the National Revolutionary Army wasn't the best-supplied, they did receive enough foreign aid and produce enough weapons to fill entire warehouses. However, most NRA soldiers barely received any new material in combat, even the basics such as bandages, rations and spare ammunition. This was due to many quartermasters selling off equipment to the black market or other warlords, who would hoard them from their troops. Nothing was done to solve this problem, which lead to quartermasters happily selling several warehouses' worth of supplies to the Chinese Communists in the Chinese Civil War, while the central government's troops starved, watched their equipment break down, or ran out of ammo.

* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', the Reds repeatedly put layabout Grif in charge of their ammo, a task he never performs. Eventually, they expand [[ProfessionalButtKisser Simmons']] duties to "bringing extra ammo for when Grif forgets." However, when Grif and Simmons are sent to a new base (where Grif is in charge), he actually sells all their ammo to the Blues.

* In ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', Cao Cao ''creates one''. He is fully aware that he doesn't have enough food to take Yuan Shu via a siege, or the strength to assault his walls. So he orders the quartermaster to serve half-rations. When the soldiers complain and threaten to desert, Cao Cao has his generals announce that the quartermaster had been holding back vital supplies for himself and has him executed. After a feast, the men are strong and enthused enough to break through and force Yuan Shu to flee. [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Cao Cao does provide for the innocent quartermaster's family after this.]]

* The quartermaster in ''{{Film/Glory}}'' keeps claiming he's out of shoes for the all-black 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, thinking it's funny to leave them either barefoot or getting infections from very worn shoes. Eventually Colonel Shaw loses his temper with the guy and breaks into the stores himself, finding piles of new shoes.

** Nobby Nobbs was a supply sergeant for several armies, a number of whom lost due to his having sold all their gear. He uses this experience to his advantage in ''Discworld/MenAtArms'' to get into the Ankh-Morpork armory, claiming to be an inspector and accusing the man in charge of everything he used to do.
** In ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'', 'Threeparts' Scallops is a subversion. When the squad sees the shoddy, second-hand gear he has for them, they accuse him of having put aside the best goods so he can sell them off. Then he shows them his back room, full of ''worse'' gear - the war is going so badly for Borogravia that the best they can use to equip new units is mangled stuff other soldiers have died in.

* In the ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' short story "The Smallest Detail," Ferik Jurgen and a local investigator catch a quartermaster who's selling food and weapons on the black market and fudging the records to hide this.

* Rodney inverts this in ''{{WesternAnimation/Archer}}''. In contrast to the highly unprofessional staff at [=ISIS=], he is very by the book, and doesn't allow the team to take out weapons all willy-nilly as it was before he showed up. He does accept a handjob from Cheryl in exchange for a secret phone number however. At his worst, he is more of an ObstructiveBureaucrat than anything else.

* Milo Minderbinder from ''Literature/CatchTwentyTwo'' isn't corrupt so much as completely amoral. Officially, he's a mess officer for an air force base in [=WW2=]; unofficially, he uses air force resources to expand his operation, shipping commodities across the Mediterranean. He calls it "the Syndicate", and insists "everyone has a share". Near the end of the novel, he cements his amorality by contracting the Nazis to bomb the base in order to destroy a backlog of Egyptian cotton he couldn't sell.

** Nobby Nobbs was a supply sergeant for several armies, a number of whom lost due to his having sold all their gear. He uses this experience to his advantage to get into the Ankh-Morpork armory, claiming to be an inspector and accusing the man in charge of everything he used to do.
** In ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'' 'Threeparts' Scallops is in charge of the limited supplies. When the squad accuses him of having sold off the equipment he complains that there was never any to sell.

* The protagonist of the ''Literature/{{McAuslan}}'' series is introduced to his new unit's quartermaster as the 'biggest rogue in the army.'
* Creator/BernardCornwell's novel ''Literature/BattleFlag'', set in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, introduces Captain Billy Blythe, who holds this position for a regiment of Northern States cavalry raised by public conscription. Galloway's Horse receives a massive cash donation from an Abolitionist preacher to buy its horses. Blythe, who in peacetime had been a horse dealer, is entrusted to buy mounts. but the horses when they arrive are a herd of elderly, mangy, knackered and blown remnants. Blythe defensively says the war has made it hard to get good horses. The suspicion grows that he has pocketed most of the money - but it cannot be proven. Blythe then goes on to be a notorious looter and rapist, who says to the hero, when there are no witnesses, that the only sane thing to do in a war is to get rich out of it. The hero vows to deal with him, but Blythe has powerful protectors.

* In the ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' [[note]]technically Ferik Jurgen[[/note]] short story "The Smallest Detail", Jurgen and a local investigator catch a quartermaster who's selling food and weapons on the black market and fudging the records to hide this.
* In ''Literature/TheEdgeChronicles'', multiple quartermasters have turned traitor.
* In ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', Cao Cao ''creates one''. He is fully aware that he doesn't have enough food to take Yuan Shu via a siege, or the strength to assault his walls. So he orders the quartermaster to serve half-rations. When the soldiers complain and threaten to desert, Cao Cao has his generals announce that the quartermaster had been holding back vital supplies for himself and has him executed. After a feast, the men are strong and enthused enough to break through and force Yuan Shu to flee. [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Cao Cao does provide for the innocent quartermaster's family after this.]]