To HooYah or not to HooYah

Found an odd article Navy Times recently posted. Since they are asking... My thoughts, LAME. What do you guys think?

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/10/navy-tell-us-what-you-think-h...

Tell us what you think: Hooyah!

The Marines have “oorah,” the Army has “hooah” and the Air Force has ... anyway, the Marines have “oorah.”

These days, more and more sailors are saying “hooyah,” and there is no bigger champion than Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SS/SW) Rick West. He uses it in emails and videos to fleet (both serious and funny) and even leads crowds in spirited group hooyahs during all-hands calls.

The term has been around for at least a couple of decades, but mostly in the diving, special warfare and explosive ordnance disposal communities. West, a submariner, picked up the term while visiting a dive school in the 1990s and has been saying it ever since. But it wasn’t until he became MCPON in December 2008 that he had the chance to use it before a wide audience.

So what do you think? Should the fleet, regardless of community, get behind hooyah? Is it a rallying cry that builds esprit de corps, or does it feel forced? Is it something you say to show excitement and motivation or do you say it when you agree with someone? Or is it both? When you say it, do you mean it? Or do you use it sarcastically?

Does hooyah belong in the SPECWAR, EOD and diving communities? Or should it be shared by all? If not hooyah, what should sailors shout, if anything?

We’d like to know what you — active and reserve, enlisted and officer — think. Email staff writer Mark D. Faram to share your thoughts. Be specific. Your opinions could be used in an upcoming story.