Oorah

Oorah is a battle cry common in the United States Marine Corps since the mid-20th century. It is comparable to hooah in the US Army and hooyah in the US Navy and US Coast Guard. It is most commonly used to respond to a verbal greeting or as an expression of enthusiasm.    

Culture

Owing to its relatively recent origins, it is less common for Marines who served in the Vietnam War or earlier to be familiar with "Oorah!", but most post-Vietnam Marines and Vietnam War Marines who continued to serve after the war will have learned it throughout their careers. A couple of shortened versions of "Oorah!" can come out as a short, sharp, monosyllabic guttural "Er!" or "Rah!"  Another phrase similar to "Oorah" is the bark, also commonly used by Marines, due to the nickname "Devil Dogs" from the Battle of Belleau Wood in World War

Oorah (Marines)

The 1st Amphibious Reconnaissance Company, FMFPAC can be credited with the introduction of "Ooh-rah!" into the Marine Corps in 1953, shortly after the Korean War. Recon Marines served aboard the USS Perch (ASSP-313), a WWII-era diesel submarine retrofitted to carry Navy UDT and Recon Marines.

Whenever the boat was to dive, the 1MC (PA system) would announce "DIVE! DIVE!", followed by the sound of the diving klaxon: "AHUGA!" In 1953 or 1954, while on a conditioning run, former Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps John R. Massaro, while serving as company Gunnery Sergeant of 1st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion, simulated the "Dive" horn sound "AHUGA!" as part of the cadence. Legend has it, he took it with him when he went to serve as an instructor at the Drill Instructor school at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. He there passed it on to the Drill Instructor students and they, in turn, passed it on to their recruits where it eventually and naturally became a part of the Recon cadence, and thereafter infiltrated Recon Marine lexicon. Over time, "AHUGA!" morphed into the shorter, simpler "Oorah!" Today, the official Marine Corps Training Reference Manual on the history of Marine Recon is titled "AHUGA!"

The term may have been derived from the Turkish phrase "vur ha!" translated as "strike!" or "kill them all!", which was used as a battle cry at the Ottoman Empire army and adopted as a Russian battlecry "Urrah!"

So I wasn't rejected?

So I wasn't rejected?
I'm a bit confused now. I spoke to the Captain today, and he said something rather interesting. He had spoken to his friend on the board, and he said there's good news and bad news. He said I wasn't a non-select, but they never received my package. So.....where my recruiter got this rather extensive information about me being rejected, and the reason for it, is a mystery.

I asked the Captain, quite innocently, "Why would Petty Officer ______ tell me I was a non-select then?" The Captain said something along the lines of, "I've got news for you. This is the Navy. Stuff like this happens." He mentioned that my recruiter was simply a First Class Petty Officer, so they may have told him this, while the real story is something else. This is one possibility.

The other is that my recruiter flat-out lied to me, telling me I was a non-select (when they never even received my package), then making up the reasoning behind my non-selection. Though why he'd lie like this is a total mystery. Why the Navy would tell him this info doesn't make sense either. The Captain seemed like he wanted to resolve this situation (perhaps he'll take an even more active role), and we'll be meeting Wednesday, July 5th. So I suppose I might not need to retake the ASTB, after all. This whole situation is very odd.