Hooah

Hooah (pronounced /ˈhuːɑː/) is a U.S. Army battle cry used by soldiers and also in use by U.S. Air Force Security Forces airmen "referring to or meaning anything and everything except no."

Usage

Some popular usages of hooah include:

• "Heard, understood and acknowledged" (backronym as "HUA")
• 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"
• "You've taken the correct action"
• "Outstanding!"
• "That's cool" or "that's OK." As in, "That's hooah."
• To motivate another soldier.
• Did not hear what was said, but not going to ask to repeat.
• Anything and everything except "no."

Hooah can also:

• describe a dedicated soldier. As in, "He's hooah-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.
• 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."

In popular culture

a HOOAH! energy bar

• "Hooah" can be found in the scripts of several military-related movies. One well-known example is Al Pacino's character, a former U.S. Army officer, in the movie Scent of a Woman (which may have popularized the longer "Hoo-Ah" version). "Hooah" also features prominently in Black Hawk Down, which depicts United States Army Rangers at the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia and Lions for Lambs a film about the war in Afghanistan. In Basic, Samuel L. Jackson's character finishes each line of his training briefings with "Give me a 'Hooah', Sergeant!". In the 2004 American film The Manchurian Candidate, Denzel Washington's character responds an order with it during the brainwashing procedure. It is also extensively used by Matt Damon's character in the 2010 movie Green Zone.
• Used as the meaning of "Heard, Understood, Acknowledged" by private young soldiers in the movie Renaissance Man from 1994.
• In place of "I really hate my job but it's a guarenteed paycheck."
• In the episode "Semper Fidelis" of the TV series Jericho, former U.S. Army Ranger Johnston Green realizes that a detachment of "U.S. Marines" are imposters because they use the word "hooah" (see Shibboleth). Genuine Marines would have said "Oorah" instead.
• The GI unit in Red Alert 2 sometimes says "hooah" in response to an order by the player.
• It is also incorrectly used in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past by the Sarge, a member of the U.S. Marines.
• The computer game America's Army makes frequent use of the phrase, and pressing the H key on the keyboard in version 2 or below would make the player's character shout "Hooah" over the radio to other members of the player's team, sometimes eliciting a series of "Hooahs" in reply.
• In the microtransaction, free to play game of Combat Arms, "Hooah" is featured as a voice-com taunt.
• "Hooah" can be heard in Crysis, yelled by a Marine on the USS Constitution and at least one other point in the game.
• In Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the NEST team replies "Hooah" when Major Lennox gives instructions before the battle with the Decepticons in Egypt.
• In the videogame Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the U.S. Army Rangers are heard multiple times throughout the game using Hooah for "anything and everything except 'no.'"
• In the videogame Medal of Honor (2010 video game), several Rangers from the U.S. Army military forces are heard using Hooah (or HUA) as for understanding and acknowledging orders from their commanding officers.

See also

• Oorah - The United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard equivalent
• Hooyah - The United States Navy and United States Air Force Pararescue equivalent
• HOOAH! Bar - a US military energy bar
• Huzzah - an 18th century equivalent
• Hooraaah! - HeadHunters FC cheer (Curtin Malaysia)
• Air Force: "Hooyah" among

External links

• About.com article with ideas about Hooah's etymology
• About.com article with some possible definitions
• Hooah uttered at the end of the re-enlistment oath, Baghdad, July 4th, 2008: at time 1:08 on the video clip