Cathcart

Col. Cathcart is the main antagonist of Joseph Heller's satirical novel Catch-22. He is a group commander at a U.S. Army Air Forces base in Pianosa and is obsessed with becoming a general. As such, he does whatever it takes to please his superiors, in particular, by repeatedly raising the number of missions the men have to fly to complete a tour of duty beyond that normally required by other outfits. This becomes the bane of Yossarian's life, as every time he comes close to obtaining the target number of missions for being sent home, Colonel Cathcart raises the number again.

Personality
"No, sir... it’s generally known that you’ve flown only two missions. And that one of those occurred when Aarfy accidentally flew you over enemy territory while navigating you to Naples for a black-market water cooler."

- Milo Minderbinder to Cathcart; Catch-22, Ch. 35

Colonel Cathcart was a slick, successful, slipshod, unhappy man of thirty-six who lumbered when he walked. Although he is fairly young and successful, he is anguished that he is not younger and more successful. He wants desperately to be a general, and he can only measure his progress against the progress of others. This makes him perpetually unhappy. It appears that no amount of success can satisfy Cathcart. His desire to further his own career causes him to totally disregard military operations, in favor of petty squabbling.

He is described as mildly conceited, and yet is found to be constantly comparing himself to others, often finding himself displeased with the conclusions he reaches. Cathcart is also obsessed with forging and maintaining a public image of extreme masculinity, most likely due to his apparent insecurity.

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.

Yossarian
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.

When Yossarian is caught AWOL in Rome, Cathcart is eager to have him court martialed and imprisoned, but Korn once again persuades him to offer him the credit for enough missions to send him home instead, to hush the whole affair up. Yossarian briefly considers the offer, but changes his mind when he hears that Orr got out of duty by escaping to Sweden.

Lieutenant Colonel Korn
Cathcart looks down on Korn—Korn’s family is middle-class, and Korn attended a state college—but without Korn, Cathcart would be utterly lost, consumed by his anxieties. He doesn't actually trust himself, and relies heavily on Korn's knowledge and ability to act.

Trivia

 * In Mike Nichols' film adaptation of the novel, Colonel Cathcart is portrayed by Martin Balsam. In the 2019 TV miniseries adaptation, he is portrayed by Kyle Chandler.
 * The concept of Catch-22 is also represented in the character of Colonel Cathcart (whose name is an anagram for both "catch art" and "rat catch"), as he consists entirely of irreconcilable oppositions and maintains an illogical thought process that echoes that of the catch.