Awkward Squad is the name given to that group of people in any organisation who cause problems and difficulties. They are apparently normal, everyday
human beings, but when they get together, things just go wrong. They are not
necessarily troublemakers, although in some instances they can be, but some strange synergy causes things to go wrong in their collective presence.
The origin of the word dates back to just after the Second World War when
National Service was compulsory in Britain for males over the age of eighteen. This meant that all sorts of people, some of whom were totally unsuited to military service, were inducted into the armed forces. That they were unsuitable quickly became apparent, and they tended to be grouped together to keep the clumsy, the unwilling, the careless and troublesome in one unit which became known as the awkward squad
