HOOAH

Hooah is a catchall phrase that will get you out of any situation, particularly when receiving a scolding from a higher-ranking officer.

"You use it when you've got a flame on your butt and you're just trying to extinguish it," said Capt. Brian Buckner, 30, of Sumter, S.C.

I never heard that phrase until I saw the movie "Blackhawlk Down." It took me forever to find someone who understood what I was asking them before I found out.

Go figure....hooah has been a mainstay in the Army for a long, long time. Us jugheads erm Marines have always referred to Army boyz as doggies.....so I had always expected them to come up with something along the lines of 'woof-woof' or something like that.....

I only served in armor or aviation units -- maybe it was an infantry thing (or special forces), though, we had infantry people in our units and none of them ever said it.

To my knowledge: Marine Infantry units started using OOH-RAH some time ago (at least before the 80s, some say as far back as the Cuban Missile Crisis) and it spread throughout the Corps. OOH-RAH is used to show extreme motivation. At some time, the Army caught wind of this and developed HOOAH as their own show of motivation. HOOAH has really only gained popularity within the last decade. Don't know how far back it goes in the Army.