Wha? Huh?

I'm a newbie to the army way of life. I grew up in Idaho and the closest encounter with anything military was an air force base an hour away. Other than that, I've watched (parts) of Saving Private Ryan and all of Major Payne. So when my husband Denver first brought up joining the army upon completion of school, I really had no idea what we'd be getting ourselves into. 

While Denver was away at boot camp I did my best to try and absorb the millions of different little nuances and details that encompass the United States Army. The acronyms were (and are still) really the worst. In the army, there is an acronym for everything, even when there is no justifiable purpose or convenience for one. It was almost like people were talking in code, and it was a code I couldn't even begin to figure out or understand. This is coming from the girl who loves languages and has studied German, Spanish, Italian and Latin.

Somehow after all this rigorous study, I missed the single most important acronym: H.U.A. Heard, Understood, Acknowledged. Otherwise known as "hooah".  The "hooah" is to the army what "eh" is to the Canadians, only probably more so.  The Wikipedia definition of "hooah" is "referring to or meaning anything or everything except no."

Some examples of how "hooah" can be inserted into a conversation:

• What to say when at a loss for words.
• "Glad to meet you," "welcome".
• "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.
• describe a dedicated soldier. As in, "He's hooah-hooah."
• in place of "I really hate my job but it's a guaranteed paycheck."
• be used as a call and response cheer, with one soldier exclaiming, "hooah!," and other soldiers responding in like.

You can imagine my bewilderment at Denver's boot camp graduation when someone would be speaking and out of nowhere I'd hear what sounded like "wha?" and suddenly all of the graduates would shout back "huh?". It didn't really seem like it was a question, but to my untrained ears, I couldn't fathom why in the world the speaker would interject a "wha?" at the end (or middle) of every sentence and everyone in unison would shout it back and seem very excited about it.  

It wasn't until later I asked Denver about it and found out it wasn't "huh" or "wha"; it was the infamous "hooah". No one really knows where or when "hooah" originated, it seems as though it is just ingrained in the army.  General Gordon R. Sullivan, former Chief of Staff said,  "I don't know how exactly to spell it, but I know what it means. 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.'"

And that's hooah for now. Hooah?