Herbert Maxwell Sobel (January 26, 1912 – September 30, 1987)[1][2] was an American soldier who served as a commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II.

Sobel's story was featured in historian Stephen E. Ambrose's book Band of Brothers, and he was portrayed by David Schwimmer in the HBO miniseries of the same name.

[3] He attended high school at the Culver Military Academy in Indiana, where he was a member of the swim team, and later graduated from the University of Illinois, where he studied business.

[9] Sobel was intensely disliked by the men under his command,[10] who saw him as a petty, arbitrary, domineering tyrant who handed down cruel punishments for the most minuscule of infractions, real or imagined.

"[12] The officers in Easy Company nicknamed Sobel "the Black Swan,"[13] and the enlisted men frequently referred to him as a "fucking Jew" when he was out of earshot.

However, by the time Easy Company had transferred to Camp Mackall, North Carolina, in February 1943, Sobel's shortcomings as a field commander became apparent.

During exercises, his lack of spatial awareness, physicality, and smart decision making made his men concerned about his ability to lead them in battle.

[20] Sink subsequently assigned Sobel to command an airborne school in Chilton Foliat, Wiltshire, which would provide jump training for non-combat personnel in preparation for the invasion of France.

[22] Immediately after landing, Sobel assembled four men and destroyed a German machine gun nest with grenades before joining the rest of the division near Carentan.

"[10] When referring to the large number of former Easy Company officers who eventually served at the 506th's regimental and battalion levels, Ambrose wrote that Sobel "must have been doing something right back in the summer of '42 at Toccoa.