# US Army cadence calls change with the times



## big bad john (17 Jul 2006)

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1957774.php

July 17, 2006

Army cadence calls change with the times

By Michael Futch
The Fayetteville Observer


FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — In years past, the military cadence caller occasionally spat out bawdy, if not downright vulgar lyrics. The training chants sometimes took aim at women, minorities and gays.

Many others targeted Russian commies, tours of Korea, Vietnamese fighters, diseased prostitutes, My Lai villain Lt. William Calley, even the Ayatollah Khomeni.

  
“In Vietnam, there were some very, very derogatory cadence calls,” said retired Lt. Col. W.T. Heath Jr. of Fayetteville.

“There were some that every now and then, usually the leaders would not let those spread. They would shut them down quick. There were always some about the war, which was all right. Then they got into the negative aspects of war. There were some negative ones about killing babies and that sort of thing.”

Cpl. Walkerson Bastia, a 21-year-old from Boston, pulls regular duty as a cadence caller in Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. He has been doing it since he joined up three years ago.

“I mix it up a little,” he said following his company’s nearly four-mile run on Wednesday morning on Fort Bragg. “It’s a good way to start the morning.”

The call-and-response chants for running soldiers are still around, but these days, a new sensitivity to women, minorities and gays has softened the language.

Gone, too, are the Jody calls, cadences in which a back-home character named Jody was ruining a soldier’s life.

“Ain’t no use in going home/ Jody’s got your girl and gone./ Ain’t no use in feeling blue/ Jody’s got your sister, too./ Ain’t no use in lookin’ back/ Jody’s got your Cadillac ...”

“We don’t call them Jody calls. We can’t use them anymore,” said Sgt. 1st Class Keith Callahan. “No more profanity. We can’t talk about women anymore. Back in the day, yes. Not now. It’s more professional now. We still do some of them about killing. Now it’s about Iraq, Afghanistan.”

These little marching songs, sung as soldiers march or double-time in formation, are about as basic to soldiering as complaining about MREs and following direct orders. They are part of an oral tradition that has developed over time, passed on by noncommissioned officers to the next generation of soldiers.

Silly as the cadences may often sound, soldiers say they provide a little motivation as they train.

Alpha Company 2nd Battalion 325 Infantry Regiment “I used to have the high school queen/ Now I’ve got my M-16/ I used to drive a Chevrolet/ Now I’m running every day ...”

Although marching songs have been around for a long time, modern cadence tradition among drill sergeants and the soldiers under their command can be traced to 1944, when an Army private named Willie Duckworth started chanting the words to “Sound Off” to a formation of exhausted troops from Fort Slocum, N.Y.:

“Sound-off / One-two/ Sound-off/ Three-four/ Count cadence/ One-two-three-four/ One-two — three-four.”

The tradition spread. Characteristically, these jogging jingles still contain that familiar “sound off” refrain.

The songs require a caller, who normally sets the pace and leads the formation. If all goes well, the caller and the soldiers develop a sort of rapport — a smooth-running formation in a sweaty groove.

A caller will usually lead two or three songs before dropping back into formation and alternating with another soldier. “It’s tiring,” Callahan explained. “It wears you out.”

On Fort Bragg, one of the most common cadences is “C-130,” which lauds the glory of the airborne: “C-130 rollin’ down the strip,” the soldiers sing, “Airborne Daddy gonna take a little trip.”

“It’s all about motivation. When the guys are feeling down, feeling weak, it brings up their spirits,” said Callahan, who often calls cadence in that Joe Pesci voice of his for the Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 325th.

Heath, who retired from the service after 30 years in 1987 and now runs his own rental business, was a natural caller.

“I’ve always liked to run my mouth is the best way to put it,” he said.

“The military gave me an opportunity to get out front. Most people wouldn’t want to get out front and lead the troops. I thoroughly enjoyed getting out there and sounding off.”

Typically, cadence duty falls on the sergeants, who are known to prepare by studying cadence manuals and recordings that are sold on post.

Some of the better callers improvise like jazzmen, incorporating their own lines into the passed-down songs. But it’s not for everyone.

“Some can do that. I’m not that talented,” said Sgt. Ryan Juliano, a 22-year-old from New Jersey. “I have trouble talking and running at the same time.”


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## Devlin (17 Jul 2006)

Is nothing sacred for the love of Apple Pie and Americana can these overly sensitive PC types just get a grip...


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## big bad john (17 Jul 2006)

Reminds me of an old Marines marching ditty;  " the cabinboy, the cabinboy, the dirty little nipper, lined his **** with fibreglass and ********** the skipper."  Of course we don't march to  that anymore either.


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## Fishbone Jones (17 Jul 2006)

They can do as they wish, so long as it doesn't start to catch on here, the way that HUA shit has been. Nothing worse than some one asking a question or making a point, and the whole room responds like cats with furballs. Sounds like they're going to puke all over themselves. It works for the Yanks, but it doesn't work for us, IMHO. Quiet professionalism, it's what we have and use.


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## orange.paint (17 Jul 2006)

I personally like the idea of cadence runs on your slow days.Nice slow cadence run to taper down for the week would be great.I cant see anything wrong with troops motivating each other.... almost sounds.... "army like." 

We sang my boy willy every morning for our runs with the troop warrant during battle school.Sounded good in the quiet of the morning I thought.


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## Fishbone Jones (17 Jul 2006)

The more energy you burn up on singing, the less you have for running.


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## GAP (17 Jul 2006)

Pity


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## Fishbone Jones (17 Jul 2006)

I'm not saying it doesn't work for the Americans, I'm just not partial to seeing it here is all.


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## paracowboy (18 Jul 2006)

you got air to sing, you ain't running fast enough. Cadences are fruity.


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## ExSarge (19 Jul 2006)

paracowboy said:
			
		

> Cadences are fruity.




Some would say a soldier in a skirt was fruity. I don’t think I would care to say it to a Highlander! Traditions are the glue that holds a unit (or army) together. As a former member of the 82 ABN (and one that can’t carry a tune in a bucket) the cadence chants worked, and continue to work to keep bored troops running in step and in formation. That fact that it works for the “yanks” is no reason to adopt it for the CF. The CF has its own traditions, methods and practices. It’s important that these are not discarded for light and transient reasons!


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## Devlin (19 Jul 2006)

ExSarge said:
			
		

> Traditions are the glue that holds a unit (or army) together. !



Well said this is the point I was trying to make, personally I agree with the previous post about the HUA stuff starting to come out of the mouths of younger troops for the most part. Personally I would much prefer a simple "seen" over HUA any day of the week.

That said it is sad that we walk away from our traditions just to please the PC crowd out there.


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## HItorMiss (19 Jul 2006)

Why on a 10km run do you need to be in step?

I'm with Recce and Para, you can sing your not working hard enough...you can talk your not working hard enough. All I want to hear is the measured intake and exhales of large breaths filling lungs to capacity to continue feeding oxygenated blood to tired muscles.


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## GAP (19 Jul 2006)

HitorMiss said:
			
		

> Why on a 10km run do you need to be in step?



Because the cadence and the rhythm of the feet falling in unison allows a focus point, which makes for easier running, allows you to catch you second wind. Worked for me, both while in formation and in the running club a lot of us belonged to. Different strokes


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## paracowboy (19 Jul 2006)

ExSarge said:
			
		

> Some would say a soldier in a skirt was fruity.


I'd be one of them. 
Is there anyone else I have yet to mock?


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## Kirkhill (19 Jul 2006)

paracowboy said:
			
		

> I'd be one of them.
> Is there anyone else I have yet to mock?



Yourself?  >


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## paracowboy (19 Jul 2006)

Kirkhill said:
			
		

> Yourself?  >


that, mah foine laddie, is a continuous process that occurs whenever I open my mouth, or type on a keyboard.


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## Kirkhill (20 Jul 2006)

paracowboy said:
			
		

> that, mah foine laddie, is a continuous process that occurs whenever I open my mouth, or type on a keyboard.



Slainte.


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## ExSarge (20 Jul 2006)

HitorMiss said:
			
		

> Why on a 10km run do you need to be in step?



Why? Because there is a difference between disciplined professionals working together as a unit and an undisciplined mob running down the road!


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## GAP (20 Jul 2006)

yeah,, yeah,....that one


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## GO!!! (20 Jul 2006)

paracowboy said:
			
		

> you got air to sing, you ain't running fast enough. Cadences are fruity.



Amen. 

Why run slow and sing when you could run faster?



> Why? Because there is a difference between disciplined professionals working together as a unit and an undisciplined mob running down the road!



That makes sense - we should start patrolling at the high port (in step) and marching into battle in ranks too!

I'm from a unit of disciplined professionals - and we run in 2 ranks - running in step is slow, impractical and unnecessary.


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## GAP (20 Jul 2006)

You all DO know that the cadence runners are NEVER going to agree with the non-cadence runners, don't you? 

tomatoes/tomato's, etc. different styles, etc. oh well...


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## ExSarge (20 Jul 2006)

ExSarge said:
			
		

> The CF has its own traditions, methods and practices. It’s important that these are not discarded for light and transient reasons!




I said it before, I'll say it again. The CF has its own traditions, there is no need to import something from south of the boarder. The bottom line is, are you in shape to perform your assigned mission? If the answer is yes, then who cares how you got that way! Personally I don't care if you run down the road butt naked swinging a dead weasel around your head (just don't do it on my street!). If that helps to keep you in shape, go for it. Just don’t ask me to join you!


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## Fishbone Jones (20 Jul 2006)

GAP said:
			
		

> You all DO know that the cadence runners are NEVER going to agree with the non-cadence runners, don't you?
> 
> tomatoes/tomato's, etc. different styles, etc. oh well...



There you go. If you have something new to add.......... well, you know the drill.


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## paracowboy (22 Jul 2006)

ExSarge said:
			
		

> Personally I don't care if you run down the road butt naked swinging a dead weasel around your head


normally, I don't post in a closed thread, but that shit is just too funny to let pass without comment! I'd pay good money to watch that!


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## Fishbone Jones (23 Jul 2006)

Re: cadence thread 
« Sent to: recceguy on: Today at 10:57:02 » 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I just wanted to give ya'll some intel on PT runs int he US Army, but I found this thread after it'd already been locked down. So, I'm forwarding this to Recceguy to paste in.

In the old days, we pretty much ran in formation every day for PT and sang jody cadences along the way. Back in the late 80's though, the Army came out with a new physical fitness program that advocated units develop a PT program based on their combat tasks. For instance, in the Blackhorse, in addition to our regular PT, one day a week in garrison, we'd do what they called "tanker PT." It was circuit training and each station was something to do with our MOS. One of the stations was a shuttle run with a 120mm dummy round, another was carrying a section of track with your crew, and other stuff like that.

The Army is big on ability group runs, which are based on your Physical Fitness Test run times. They form up the Soldiers into these groups, each of which is led by an NCO and they basically do a timed run at the fastest runner's pace in their group. 

In the infantry, we would do a hump each week in garrison, anywhere from 8 to 25 miles, depending on where we were in the training cycle. We usually did humps on Fridays. When we did our short range planning in company training meetings, we hammered out a PT schedule just the same way we did the training schedule. So, each week, an annex to the training schedule was attached that showed what each platoon had locked on for daily PT. My commander and I would do PT with different platoons each day to make sure they were doing what they were supposed to. 

In most units, once a month they do battalion PT. These are the long slow runs where companies form in mass and you shuffle along at a jog singing cadence. This is the stereotypical Army PT, although in reality, it's not the norm anymore.


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