Dilbert Groundloop

Dilbert Groundloop is a comic character conceived by Capt. Austin K. Doyle, USN and Lt. Cdr. Robert Osborn, USNR shortly after the Attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II.[1][2]

An early aviator, he was used in training manuals, like Taxi Sense, and training posters for the United States Navy.[3] Dilbert was specifically shown doing things that pilots shouldn't do with the terrible and comedic consequences of his actions illustrated for the benefit of future pilots.[4] The Army counterpart was the better-known animated cartoon, Private Snafu [an acronym that means, Situation Normal: All Fouled Up], created by Theodor "Seuss" Geisel and Chuck Jones.

The Dilbert training materials received wide recognition by Navy personnel and others, due to Osborn's distinctive linear style.[5]

Despite this character's obscurity, his name lives on in Scott Adams' comic strip, Dilbert. While working at Pacific Bell, Adams had been drawing the character for some time, to liven up his Power Point presentations. Co-workers asked him who the character was, but he admitted he never thought of a name. Adams started a "Name the Nerd" contest, and got many suggestions, but none of them worked. Finally, one co-worker said, "Dilbert" [after the Navy character]. Adams declared this to be the winning entry, saying, "It's not as if we were naming him, but that we discovered what his name already was."

References
  1. "Dilbert". rwebs.net.
  2. Goodman, John B. (August 1944). "Dilbert, USN". Flying Magazine. 35 (2): 132.
  3. "Dilbert Groundloop training poster number 800". Pritzker Military Museum & Library.
  4. Goodman, John B. (August 1944). "Dilbert, USN". Flying Magazine. 35 (2): 55.
  5. Kercher, Stephen E. (2010). Revel with a Cause: Liberal Satire in Postwar America. University of Chicago Press. p. 51. ISBN 0226431657.
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