Chapter 5: Chief White Halfoat

In Chapter 5 of Catch-22, Doc Daneeka describes his corrupt medical practice to Yossarian in the tent he shares with Chief White Halfoat, an alcoholic Native American. Halfoat tells Yossarian that Doc Daneeka is crazy and relates the story of his own family, who were forced to live a nomadic life after major oil companies used them as "human divining rods" and then kicked them off the land.

Yossarian pleads with Doc Daneeka to be grounded, arguing that he is crazy, and Doc Daneeka tells him about Catch-22, a regulation that states that a pilot must be sane to ask to be grounded because sane people would not want to fly bombing missions. Yossarian believes Doc Daneeka, just as he believed Orr when he said there were flies in Appleby's eyes, despite not understanding what he meant.

Yossarian thinks about how much he hates his position in the nose of the plane on bombing missions, and how terrified he is for his life. He remembers one mission when the plane went out of control and Dobbs, the co-pilot, went crazy, and the narrator enigmatically states that someone named Snowden lay dying in the back of the plane.