Pogue is American pejorative military slang for non-combat MOS staff, and other rear-echelon or support units. "Pogue" frequently applies to those who do not have to undergo the risk and stresses of combat as the combat arms positions does.
History and etymology
Originally used as early as the First World War by US Marines to refer to a male homosexual in the female role. At the beginning of World War II, "pogue" was used by Marine drill instructors to refer to trainees believed not to be meeting the expected standards or failing to display the appropriate esprit de corps. While the term does not appear in Army or Air Force terminology until the Korean War, Linda Reinberg includes it as being in general use in Vietnam to refer to rear echelon support personnel. During Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, "pogue" referred to anyone who arrived in theater after the speaker. Due to having lost contact with its linguistic source, and possibly to avoid embarrassing civilians who might ask, the modern military vernacular has turned "pogue" into a retronym/backronym, e.g., Personnel Other than Grunts, Permanently On Garrison, Person On Ground with Unused Equipment, or Person Of Greater Use Elsewhere, the latter referring to mid-grade and senior military personnel who may have been trained/qualified/experienced as combat specialists, but who have been assigned to rear echelon staffs, especially senior command staffs. "Pogey bait" is a reference to sweets or candy, which was in usage in the military as early as 1918. The term alludes to food rarely afforded to grunts in the field. To an infantry soldier, the term "pogey bait", when used, in the possessive sense refers to a personally acquired stash of snacks and food. Common items found in a bag of "pogey bait" include ramen noodles, hard candies, beef jerky, Easy Cheese, and Vienna sausages. "Pogey bait" was/is used "in the field" not only as snacks and meal supplements, but also for bartering. "Pogey-bait run" was used as early as the 1960s to refer to any unauthorized violation of restrictions with the purpose of meeting a wife or girlfriend. "POG" is a backronym for "pogue", rising to prominence during the Global War on Terror. The form "pogue" can be found in pre-GWOT novels and books written about the Vietnam War, including in glossary entries which give no indication that the term is an acronym.
Possible origins
"Pogee", "pogie", "pogey", are described as terms from Korean slang first by the US Army and then all services to refer to female genitals. Another possible inspiration could be the phrase "pogue mahone" from the Irish "póg mo thóin" meaning "kiss my rump", "kiss my bottom", or "kiss my ass"; the word "póg" meaning kiss. However, no references have been found that would allow one to trace such a derivation.
