Home : Three Services :Hooah & OorahHooah!You can hear it echoing from the hallowed halls of Fort Benning, Ga.'s Infantry Center to the ranges at Fort Lewis, Wash. It is uttered at award ceremonies, bellowed from formations, and repeated before, during and after training missions. Visit just about any Army office building, sports field, dining facility, gymnasium or academy and you will probably hear someone exclaim Hooah! No matter how one might spell the word - with or without a hyphen, a U instead of two Os, and so on - the word is still an expression of high morale, strength and confidence. And, when powered by an overwhelmingly proud, and usually loud, tone of voice, hooah seems to stomp out any possibility of being bound by the written word. "It's an affirmation that I fully agree with and support the idea or intent expressed by the person to whom I make that response," said Maj. Gen. F.A. Gorden, Military District of Washington commander. "It applies not only to the letter of what was said, but to the spirit of what was said."
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan has his interpretation. "I don't know how exactly to spell it, but I know what it means," Sullivan said. "It means we have broken the mold. We are battle focused. Hooah says 'Look at me. I'm a warrior. I'm ready. Sergeants trained me to standard. I serve America every day, all the way.'" The modern hooah, primarily associated with but not restricted to the infantry, originated with the Second Dragoons in Florida as "hough" in 1841. In an attempt to end the war with the Seminoles, a meeting was arranged with the Indian Chief Coacoochee. After the meeting, there was a banquet. Garrison officers made a variety of toasts, including "Here's to luck" and "The old grudge" before drinking. Coacoochee asked Gopher John, an interpreter, the meaning of the officers' toasts. Gopher John responded, "It means, 'How d'ye do.'" The chief then lifted his cup above his head and exclaimed in a deep, guttural voice, "hough." And so the expression was born. It has since achieved high popularity - having lasted for more than 150 years, through the American Civil War, two world wars, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam war, Operation Just Cause in Grenada and the Persian Gulf war. And the expression continually grows in popularity. Once heard mainly from infantry soldiers, hooah has spread throughout the rest of the Army. Soldiers will continue to acknowledge a mission to be accomplished, a job well done, victory at a sporting event or any occasion imaginable with hooah.
OorahMarines hear it each and every day. Ingrained into Marine minds since boot camp, this distinctly Marine call is barked back and forth in an almost endless stream of motivation. However, take a step back and ask that Marine, "where did Oorah come from exactly?" The answer is rarely the same. Countless stories abound regarding the mysterious origins of our beloved phrase. However, unlike many Marine traditions, Oorah is rather new. As any veteran of the past 50 years would say, no Marine before 1950 could be found saying it. The true popularization of the word came in the '80s and '90s, when it fully emerged from the murky secrecy of Marine reconnaissance through drill instructors and by other means into use by Marines around the world. "As far as I had been told, Oorah simply means 'let's kill,'" said Staff Sgt. Hugo Monroy, drill instructor for Platoon 1094, Delta Co., 1st RTBn. "As far as its origin, I really don't know. I always assumed it was simply a Marine tradition that was passed down from Marine to Marine." The stories of Oorah's origins range from the logical to the absurd, including stories such as it being Turkish for kill, which is in fact öldürmek, or even simply a direct counter against the Army's "Hooah." But where did the word really come from? Marines and historians have determined the true origins of Oorah lie with recon Marines stationed in Korea in 1953. During this time, reconnaissance Marines in the 1st Amphibious Reconnaissance Co., found themselves traveling via submarine to where they were needed. The memorable call of "dive, dive!" would be called on the intercom and a klaxon alarm, which made a very distinct "Aarugha" sound, would announce the descent of the sub below water. The recon Marines, who heard this sound often, started using it as a motivational tool during runs and physical training. Over time, the word "Aarugha" came to be too much of a mouthful, and eventually molded itself into the familiar Oorah, according to Maj. Gary Marte, a retired Marine.
Confirmation for this version of the story rests with the official Marine Corps Training Reference Manual on the history of Marine recon, titled "Aarugha," the manual gives credence on the origination of the phrase with reconnaissance Marines.
Oorah and Hooah may also be variations of the earlier "Hurrah," which was a common shout used by English-speaking soldiers in the past. Additionally, the Air Force recently began using the phrase "Air Power!" to replace Hooah (borrowed from the Army), but it has gone largely unadopted and many airmen continue to use the phrase Hooah like their Army counterparts. Hooah has been used since at least the 1970s in parts of the US military as an enthusiastic shorthand for the command of execution when drilling soldiers. During drill, a preparatory command is issued first to alert the soldiers to what they need to do. This is then followed (usually more loudly) by the command of execution which tells the soldiers that they are now to perform the command. A word with a "huh" sound is much easier to project loudly than words starting with "f", "m", or other consonants or vowels. Thus, "Atten-Tion", became "Atten-Hut", then "Atten-Hooah". "Forward, March" became "Forward, Harch", and then "Forward, Hooah". "Right Shoulder, Arms" became "Right Shoulder, Harms" and then "Right Shoulder, Hooah". "About, Face" becomes "About, Hace", and so on. There are additional theories as well on the origins of Hooah which may have developed separately from Oorah. | ||||||||||
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