About Hooah
! ! HOOAH ! !
Hooah (hü-ä or who-ah) is the battle cry of the U.S. Army. It is used by US Army soldiers “Referring to or meaning anything and everything positive or anything except no.”
From Ft. Bragg to Ft. Benning to Ft. Lewis
You can hear it echoing from the drop zones at Ft. Bragg, NC, to the hallowed halls of Fort Benning, Ga.’s Infantry Center to the ranges of 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 you spell it
No matter how one might spell the word – with or without a hyphen, a U instead of two Os or 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.”
Former 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.’ ”
Some basic Hooah meanings are:
- “Heard, understood and acknowledged” ( acronym as “HUA”)
- US Air Force: “Hooah” or “Hooyah” amongst PJ’s
- What to say when at a loss for words
- “Good copy”
- “Roger,” “solid copy,” “good,” “great,” “message received,” “understood,” “acknowledged”
- “Glad to meet you,” “welcome”
- “All right!”
- “Thank you”
- “Go to the next slide”
- “You’ve taken the correct action”
- “Amen!”
- “Outstanding!”
- “That’s cool” or “that’s OK.” As in, “That’s hooah.”
- To motivate another soldier.
- Anything and everything except “no.”
Hooah can also mean:
- describe a hardcore soldier – as in, “He’s hooah” or “She’s hooah.”
- be used a call and response cheer, with one soldier exclaiming, “hooah!,” and other soldiers responding in like.
- be uttered at random and in a group in order to boost morale. One or a few soldiers will begin chanting “hooah!,” and then others join in. The chant is like a pack of wolves howling together.
- describe Army Rangers. As in “The hooah-hooahs.”
- be used as a sarcastic remark for something specific to the Army. Sometimes used sarcastically. As in, “This detail is about as hoo-ah as it gets.”
