Colonel Cathcart is a fictional character in the 1961 novel Catch-22, written by Joseph Heller. He was portrayed by Martin Balsam in Mike Nichols' 1970 film adpatation of the novel. A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Catch 22 can refer to: A book by Joseph Heller, or the movie based on the book; see Catch-22. ... (May 1, 1923 – December 12, 1999) was an American satirist best remembered for writing the satiric World War II classic Catch-22. ... Martin Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an American actor. ... Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky) is an Academy Award winning movie director of films such as The Graduate and Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. He was born on November 6, 1931 in Berlin, to a Jewish Russian family. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed. ...

He is a group commander at a U.S. Army Air Corps base in Pianosa, Italy during World War II and is obsessed with becoming a general. As such, he does whatever it takes to please his superiors, particularly, by raising the number of missions the men have to fly to complete a tour of duty, beyond that normally ordered by other outfits. This becomes the bane of Yossarian's life. Insignia of a United States Navy Commander Commander is a military rank used in many navies but not generally in armies or air forces. ... The United States Air Force (or USAF) is the aerospace branch of the United States armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services. ... Pianosa is a small (about 10 km2) island in Italys Tuscan Archipelago. ... Combatants Allies: Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France/Free France, United States, Canada, China, India, Australia, Poland, New Zealand, South Africa, Greece, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Burma, Slovakia Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8... A General is an officer of high military rank. ... Yossarian, as portrayed by Alan Arkin Captain John Yossarian is the 28-year-old protagonist of the 1961 novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. ...

Ironically, Cathcart himself has only flown in two missions, one of which was accidental.

Cathcart nightly makes lists of "feathers in his cap" and "black eyes", often finding something in the former category is in fact in the latter once considering all the possible ways in which his superiors could react to them. In his attempts to please nearly everyone, Cathcart discovers that all the other soldiers hate him. This perception lives largely in his mind, but it affects his relationships with the others and they soon begin to actually dislike and/or avoid him. His paranoia, matched only by his arrogance, worsens throughout the course of the novel. The concept of catch-22 is also represented in the character of Colonel Cathcart, as he consists entirely of irreconcilable oppositions and maintains an illogical thought process that echoes that of the catch. For other uses, see Paranoia (disambiguation). ...

Cathcart hates Yossarian almost as much as Yossarian hates him. When Yossarian publicly refuses to fly any more missions, Cathcart champs at the bit to have him court martialed, but his right hand man, Colonel Korn, talks him out of it, advising him that a dismissal from the Air Force is exactly what he wants; Cathcart instead decorates him to ensure that he will stay in the service. A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law. ... Colonel Korn is a 46-year-old fictional character in the 1961 novel Catch-22, written by Joseph Heller. ... Seal of the Air Force. ...

Cathcart is a master of political doublespeak, often completely contradicting what he says seconds after he says it, usually when a superior officer disagrees with him. Doublespeak is language deliberately constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning, often resulting in a communication bypass. Such language is associated with governmental, military, and corporate institutions. ...

When Yossarian is caught AWOL in Rome, Cathcart is eager to have him court martialed and imprisoned, but Korn once again convinces him to offer him the credit for enough missions to send him home instead, to hush the whole affair up. Yossarian breifly considers the offer, but changes his mind when he hears that another soldier got out of duty by escaping to Sweeden. AWOL (pronounced a-wall) is an acronym for the United States and other armed forces expression Absent WithOut Leave or Absence Without Official Leave. The United States Marine Corps and the United States Navy use the term Unauthorized Absence (UA) instead. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC (mythical), early 1st millennium BC (archaeological) Region Latium Area  - City Proper  1285 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,553,873 almost 4,300,000 1. ...