Hooah

rdf:langString Hooah

rdf:langString Hooah /ˈhuːɑː/ is a battle cry used by members of the United States Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Space Force. Originally spelled "Hough", the battle cry was first used by members of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment during the Second Seminole War in 1841, after Seminole chief Coacoochee toasted officers of the regiment with a loud "Hough!", apparently a corruption of "How d'ye do!" Since WWII, the word has been widely used throughout the U.S. Army and gained a more general meaning of "anything and everything except 'no'". It is comparable to Oorah which the United States Marine Corps uses. The United States Navy and the United States Coast Guard use hooyah. The phrase originated with the U.S. Army Rangers and in the early 1980s was considered a trait of Ranger battalions, spreading locally through Fort Lewis, Washington and Fort Benning, Georgia, home of the three Ranger battalions at the time. By the late Eighties, it had spread through the majority of the Army's major and subordinate commands, quickly through leadership development schools and the more challenging courses such as Airborne, Air Assault, and Pathfinder. The speed with which it caught on is attributed to the rotation/Permanent Change of Station (PCS) of Rangers being reassigned from the "Bats" to one of the divisional units. On reassignment, their training could be put to use filling cadre slots as instructors or Black Hats by the divisions' G3 Training. As explained by senior instructor for Primary Leadership Development Course (PLDC) at Fort Ord, California in 1986, "Hooah" is always affirmative and used in various circumstances defined by the user's enthusiasm. Examples: upper case "HOOAH": "I totally agree, that's badass!"; or lower case "hooah", "yea got it, I'll get it done". Or it can be used as a question showing concern or need for clarification of intent: "Hooah?"