Pogue

For people named Pogue, see Pogue (surname). For the Irish-English celtic punk band, see The Pogues.
Pogue is a pejorative military slang term used to describe non-infantry, non-combat soldiers, staff, and other rear-echelon or support units.[1] A related term is the acronym REMF, or "rear-echelon mother fucker". "Pogue" frequently describes those who don't have to undergo the stresses that the infantry does, and is generally used as a diminutive for any non-infantry personnel that disagrees or impedes the wants of a "grunt".

REMF also can mean Regional Engineering Manager (Field) or Ray Elliott (Manager, Field). The term has the same meanings as above.

Beyond its military use, Pogue is known to be used in civilian circles to describe a person who is in a less than admirable social position to the speaker, someone who poses to be more than they claim to be, or someone who is inept, i.e. marching-band pogue, fuckin pogue, or just pogue.

This term has somewhat been replaced by the word Fobbit which refers to non-combat arms soldiers who never leave their Forward Operating Base.

[edit] History & etymology
It has been used in the United States Navy and Marine Corps since before World War II, entering Army usage around the time of the Vietnam War.[2]

The term may be derived from a Tagalog word meaning "prostitute." Originally, the term was a sexual insult, as "pogue" was slang for a young male who submitted to sexual advances.[3] This led to the related term "pogey bait", meaning candy or sweets.

Another source to which the term is attributed is the Gaelic and Irish language phrase "póg mo thóin" pronounced [pog muh hon] (literally 'kiss my arse'), applied to sycophants, suck-ups and others engaging in behaviors or practices commonly viewed by their peers to be beneath the expected degree of military bearing.

Due to having lost contact with its linguistic source, the modern military vernacular has turned "pogue" into a retronym/backronym. "Pogue" is now described as the pronunciation of the acronym POG, or Person Other than Grunt, or Posted On Garrison.[2] It is also acronymed out to "Person On Ground with Unused Equipment" (Hence the spelling).

Pogue (various spellings) comes from the term "pogey-bait". In the days of the British empire, many of the sailors aboard British naval vessels were Gaelic speakers from Ireland or Scotland. When these sailors arrived at various ports, they would purchase bags of candy to give to girls as "kiss bait", but using the Gaelic word for kiss, "póg", which can sound like "pogey" in some accents. Over time, the original reason for the term was not passed on, and soldiers would reason that if candy or other junk food was used to catch a "pogue", then it stood to reason that a "pogue" must be a fat, lazy person.