We Aussies, military or otherwise, and when sober, are reluctant and even put off by loud public demonstrations of emotion such as "oorah/hoorah." That's one reason our servicepeople don't sing or chant when drilling/marching. There may be some exceptions but none that I know. Nevertheless it might catch on when our X-box generation become recruit/cadet instructors.

I was trying to think of a way of expressing my feelings on this Padre, but you seem to have hit the nail fairly squarely on the head.

"Yep!", "Done" or at the most "Yes Sir" in a clear and concise manner would have sufficed and everyone would have known what was going on.

A bit too "Ramboesque" for Aussies, I think.

Interesting...I always thought it was a way to express enthusiasm for ones branch of service. Hence the different spellings...

I recently went to see the movie "The Guardian" (US Coast Guard film) with a group of army and navy members - of various ages and ranks.

I liked the film and I even shed a tear at the sad ending though others may have cheered at the death of Kevin Costner?

Anyway, as much as I liked it, those of us who were 35 plus cringed everytime the cadets / recruits clapped their hands three times and yelled "hoorah" - or "oorah."

But the blokes who were 18-20 or there-abouts loved the rally cry and much to the annoyance of us oldies kept yelling it on the way back to our respective bases.

Well FWIW, I don't recall hooah being used in the Army for most of my era. I heard it from Marines but not in the Army. I do recall something like it being used by Rangers but it was more of a "HOO-yah!" if that makes any sense. I think it hooah started to permeate the Infantry in the 90s I believe. I don't know what prompted the adoption of it as an affirmative response but I never had a problem hearing it since. It certainly never took the place of "Yes Sir" in formal situations.

Same here Top. I don't remember hearing anything similar except maybe on a bayonet course but most of it was just screaming unintelligibly at the gunny sack enemies. Of course, if you listen to Gunny on Mail Call, the Marines never stopped using oorah! Maybe we just weren't motivated enough in 1962.

The source below is the one I have mostly seen credited as the original:

The 1st Amphibious Reconnaissance Company, FMFPAC can be credited with the introduction of "Oorah!" into the Corps in 1953, shortly after the Korean War. Recon Marines served aboard the submarine USS Perch, ASSP-313, which was a WWII diesel submarine retrofitted to carry Navy UDT and Recon Marines. As is commonly depicted in war movies, whenever the boat was to dive, the 1MC (PA system) would announce "DIVE! DIVE!", followed by the sound of the diving klaxon: "AARUGHA!".
In 1953 or 1954, while on a conditioning run, one of the 1st Amphibious Recon Marines imitated the "Dive" horn sound "AARUGHA!" as part of the cadence, and it naturally became a part of the Recon cadence while on runs, and thereafter infiltrated Recon Marine lexicon. Over time, "AARUGHA!" morphed into the shorter, simpler "Oorah!". Today, the official Marine Corps Training Reference Manual on the history of Marine Recon is titled "AARUGHA!"

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oorah#Origins

Another explanation may be found here: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joint.../a/hooah_2.htm

And now we all know the real story. Thanks, everyone!