Where did the term Dog Robber come from and what does it apply to?

SPC Charles Brown — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 18:58:15 -0400

There has long been a term in the military that applies to a certain individual. I am wondering if anyone can tell me where this term came from and who does it apply to in the military. Good luck, I know there are many old time military veterans and retirees who are familiar with this term. If you are the person that this applies to please refrain from answering or give disinformation on the topic. There are multiple answers to this question.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Apr 15 at 2014 7:08 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:08:20 -0400

I had to cheat and look that one up.

Response by TSgt Scott Hurley made Apr 15 at 2014 7:10 PM

TSgt Scott Hurley — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:10:59 -0400

Here's your answer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_%28military%29#United_States

Batman (military) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A batman (or batwoman) is a soldier or airman assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant. Before the advent of motorized transport, an officer's batman was also in charge of the officer'...

Response by LTC Ben Walters (Ret) made Apr 15 at 2014 8:12 PM

LTC Ben Walters (Ret) — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 20:12:43 -0400

Dog robber refers to an aide-de-camp for a general or flag officer. I have no idea where it came from or why, but I do belong to the club after serving as an aide for 2 years. I hope somebody has the total story, it will be interesting indeed!

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 15 at 2014 11:29 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 23:29:56 -0400

CPL Brown,

A dog robber is someone who steals leftover food, and it came to be synonymous with a General's aide because it's said that there are very few things an aide won't do to meet the General's needs.

Response by SPC David S. made Jul 31 at 2014 12:06 AM

SPC David S. — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 00:06:48 -0400

If I remember my civil war history it was a cook that often would well find some meat to cook up. Thus the term dog robber. In today's military it is used to describe a soldier that makes problems disappear by what ever means necessary.

Response by CPO Peter Bailey made Dec 30 at 2015 12:40 PM

CPO Peter Bailey — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 12:40:44 -0500

I was an ex Matalot working as an Ambulanceman, my crew mate was an ex Royal Marine and we were transporting a patient who was an ex Admiral. My oppo and I were ribbing each other about our military Service and the Admiral , who was quite poorly, called us a pair of Dog Robbers. Apparently this was a term used in the eighteenth century to describe a pair of scruffy Matalots who would steal the clothes off of a mangy dog to be able to go ashore. Sounds good eh!

Response by LT Ricky Recono made May 28 at 2018 3:39 PM

LT Ricky Recono — Mon, 28 May 2018 15:39:00 -0400

I have an answer which makes sense to me, but I am not at all sure that it is historically correct. Keep in mind that the aides-de-camp called dog robbers are generally assigned, I believe, to general officers, and that snuffies, or non-high-ranking enlisted soldiers, were, during some period, referred to as dogfaces, or doggies. Thus, from the POV of a junior or medium-grade officer, a general's aide might be someone who was going to steal some of his men from him for one reason or another.

If this analysis is false, which it may well be, it could probably be easily disproved by showing that "dog robber" precedes "dogface" chronologically, or some similar contradiction.

??

Response by Joseph Madden made Mar 9 at 2022 12:13 PM

Joseph Madden — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 12:13:17 -0500

This is why Google sucks. A "dog-robber" comes from the derogatory title of individual that would work in old grand estate homes and clean up after the dogs that defecated in the home. Obviously the military brass picked up this term to describe the lowest ranking individual that had direct contact with a high level superior.