Hooah

(who-uh) adj. (slang used by soldiers) Referring to or meaning anything and everything except “no”.

1. What to say when at a loss for words.

2. Good copy, solid copy, Roger, good, great, Message received, understood.

3. Glad to meet you, welcome.

4. I don’t know the answer, but I’ll check on it. I haven’t the vaguest idea.

5. I am not listening.

6. That’s enough of your dribble…SIT DOWN!

7. Stop sniveling.

8. Oh, shit! You’ve got to be kidding.

9. Yes

10. Thank you.

11. Go to the next briefing slide.

12. You’ve taken the correct action.

13. I don’t know what that means, and I’m too embarrassed to ask for clarification.

14. AMEN!


THE ORIGIN OF HOOAH

From – One Hundred Years With The Second Cavalry

Notable among the many scouts made by the Second Dragoons in 1841, was the one made by Company I under Captain B. L. Beall as a part of a force of 450 men under Colonel Worth, comprising also the Eighth Infantry. Leaving January 22, they traveled from Fort Brooke toward the Kissemmee River but found the entire country inundated. The net result was that the chieftain, Coacoochee, agreed to meet Colonel Worth in conference March 5. As it was desired to convince him of the necessity of moving his tribe to Arkansas he was treated with much courtesy. On one occasion when the officers were giving toasts while having a drink, Coacoochee asked what they meant. The interpreter, at a loss, told him their meaning was “How d’you do”. The chief immediately said, “Hough”, in a strong voice, and it was repeated by the officers present and, later, became popular throughout the army in Florida. This is supposed to have been the origin of the famous toast used now all over our land.

Thanks Dave for the info! – visit his site here: Dragoons.org


This is from an article published in the Army Times c.1990: Click to enlarge.

 


FM 7-21.13 – The Soldier’s Guide, dated 15 OCT 2003

Paragraph 4-27, Traditions, states:

“Hooah!” This informal but always understood sound is less a word than an audible affirmation of the warrior ethos. The soldier that utters that sound understands his task and will not quit until it is completed. That sound means soldiers are ready and willing to accomplish the mission at hand.


The term Hooah is sometimes also referred to as “HUA”, an acronym for the term Heard, Understood, Acknowledged

From Urbandictionary.com, It is a phonetic spelling of a military acronym, originally used by the British in the late 1800′s in Afghanistan. More recently adopted by the U.S. Army to indicate an affirmative or a pleased response.


Your Family Might Be too HOOAH If…

  1. All your possessions are military issue.
  2. Your kids recite their ABC’s phonetically.
  3. Your kids call their sandbox “NTC”.
  4. You have pull-up bars outside the kitchen door.
  5. Your daughter’s first haircut was a flattop.
  6. Your kids pull fireguard.
  7. Your newborn’s first words were “all OK Jumpmaster”.
  8. You always back into parking spaces.
  9. You have to look up your parents phone number, but can dial the CQ, SDNCO, company, battalion, and brigade with no problem at all.
  10. Each page of your vacation atlas has two routes marked.
  11. Your kids call the tooth fairy “Slicky Boy”.
  12. Your son fails the third grade, but tells everyone he was a “phase three recycle”.
  13. Your favorite author is Mike Malone or Tom Clancy.
  14. When your kids are too noisy, you yell “at ease!”
  15. You don’t own any blue ink pens.
  16. Your leave always occurs during the last week of September.
  17. Your wife’s “high-n-tight” is more squared away than your Commander’s.
  18. You keep a box of MREs at home and in the trunk of your car in case of emergencies.
  19. When talking to relatives by phone, you end the conversation with “out here.”
  20. You & your kids refer to your spouse as “Household 6″ or “CINC House.”
  21. You’ve seen Patton enough times to memorize his speech.
  22. You call the Post Locator instead of Information to find your friends.
  23. You take the family camping with no tent or sleeping bags.
  24. The only time you and the spouse eat without the kids is at the unit “dining out.”
  25. Your kids can speak three languages by age eight.
  26. The only suit you own is your Class A uniform.
  27. You carry your cell phone to the shower.
  28. Your vehicle is registered on post and in two different states.
  29. You convince your spouse that all ten of your guns are necessary for home protection.
  30. You have more money invested in TA-50 than in your car.
  31. You tell your kids to go to bed at 2100 and they try to explain that it’s only nine o’clock .
  32. No one understands the stories you tell because of all the acronyms.
  33. You can explain the Gettysburg battlefield better than directions to your house.
  34. Your kids know the words to “she wore a yellow ribbon.”
  35. Your two-year old calls everyone in BDUs “daddy”.
  36. The phone book lists your rank instead of Mr.
  37. Your spouse hasn’t unpacked the good china for twenty years.
  38. You ruin the movie for everyone around you by pointing out the unrealistic military scenes.
  39. You live on post so you can hear reveille every morning.
  40. Your family calls you “Sir.”
  41. All your jokes begin with “there was this soldier, a marine and an airman…”
  42. You feel compelled to get a haircut every three days.
  43. All of your shoes are military style, except for one pair and that pair is your running shoes.
  44. You are convinced that coffee is a nutrient.
  45. Your home town is convinced that you are a foreigner.
  46. Your first impressions of civilians are that they all need haircuts.
  47. All of your underwear is colored OD Green, Brown, or White.
  48. Civilians exercise and you conduct PT.
  49. You only wear those dorky military glasses or the geeky aviation glasses.
  50. Your kids categorize other kids as either military brats or civilian slugs.
  51. You answer your phone at home by explaining that the line is unsecure.
  52. Your spouse owns several military cookbooks published by family support groups.
  53. Half of the mementos in your house are from Korea or Germany .
  54. Your newborn must attend the newcomers’ orientation briefing within the first 30 days of life.
  55. Your wife’s two favorite shades of lipstick are light green and loam.
  56. You go to a barbecue and insist that your family feed tactically.
  57. You make your children clear housing before they go off to college.
  58. You require your mechanic to replace the sandbags on your floorboards as part of a tune-up.
  59. Your POV is equipped with blackout lights.
  60. Your kids volunteer to pull air guard on the school bus.
  61. Your doorbell sounds off with the current challenge and password.
  62. You have sector sketches and range cards posted by every window in your house.
  63. You give the command “Fix Bayonets” at Thanksgiving Dinner.
  64. Your kids show their meal cards at the kitchen door, except the oldest, who is on separate rations, and must pay for the meal.
  65. You make your daughter sign out on pass on Prom Night.
  66. Your kindergartner calls recess a “smoke break.”
  67. Your wife takes a “knee” in the checkout line at the supermarket.
  68. You do your “back to school” shopping at the U.S. Cavalry Store.
  69. Your kids salute their grandparents.
  70. Your kids get an LES with their allowance.
  71. Your grandmother won “All American Week” and “Best Ranger”.
  72. Your kids initials are AR, FM, TM, or DA.
  73. Your POV has your name stenciled on the windshield.
  74. Your kids are hand-receipt holders.
  75. Your older kids call the youngest one “Cherry” or “WOJG”.
  76. Your wife keeps Mermites in the china cabinet.
  77. Your wife left you and you held a “Change of Command” ceremony.
  78. You call your in-laws the “Slice Elements.”
  79. Your dog’s name is “Scout,” “Ranger,” or “Trooper.”
  80. You decorate your Christmas Tree with Stetsons, sabers, and spurs.
  81. You’ve given your children monthly counselings or an Article 15.
  82. You cut your own high and tight.
  83. Refer to every question with “let me check the reg.”
  84. If you always reply back with “Roger, Wilco, or Hooah.”
  85. If your home library consists of FM’s and AR’s.
  86. YOU CANT SAY MORE THAN 5-7 WORDS ON THE PHONE WITHOUT SAYING “BREAK”
And you are Definitely Too Hooah if you understood all of these expressions!! Help me add to this list! Email me!

Received from: Staff Sgt. Brian Bowman 203rd MPAD
Viewpoint

The Real ‘Hooah’ Behind the U.S. Army’s Hooah

It is not really a word, yet it is one of the most spoken forms of communication in the U.S. Army. It can mean nothing, or mean just about anything at all. It can be a question or an answer, even the question and the answer. When in doubt, just say it and you’ll appear squared away. Hooah. Who the heck came up with that? Someone, please tell me. I mean, only in the Army can you have a perfectly coherent conversation that goes something like this (civilian translations provided):

 

Soldier one: “Hooah (Hello).”

Soldier two: “Hooah (Hello).”

 

Soldier one: “How was chow?”

Soldier two: “Hooah (Same old, same old.)”

 

Soldier one: “You need to go talk to the first sergeant. Hooah? (Ok?)”

Solder two: “Hooah. (No problem. It’s taken care of.)”

 

Soldier one: “Hooah. (Good.) See ya later.”

Solder two: “Hooah. (Later, buddy).”

Soldier one: “Hooah (Right back at ya, my man).”

Hey, a few more versatile words like “Hooah,” and we’d need only 12, maybe 15 words in the entire English language. I’ve polled several people, but no one seems to know the true history of this word. How long has this guttural noise been associated with the G.I.? But who needs history, anyway? We’re talking fate here. It’s karma, man. The Army wouldn’t be the Army without hooah, right? (I mean, hooah?)

Hooah, which means nothing to anyone outside the Army, is a code word to be “in.”

If you’re in the Army and you never say hooah, stay away from me. That’s bad karma, man. Your vibes aren’t right. Maybe you need to meditate on it. All I know is that, three months ago, before my Army Reserve unit was called to active duty, hooah meant very little to me. I had heard it; I knew what it was, but it meant very little. I wouldn’t have been caught uttering it. But after three months of deployment, dealing with muck, mines and mayhem, hooah makes sense. It explains this whole situation we’re now all in. Wouldn’t you agree? (I mean, hooah?)

Hooah.