Military cadence

United States Army soldiers calling cadence, during Basic Combat Training at Fort Jackson (South Carolina) in 2008

In the United States armed services, a military cadence or cadence call is a traditional call-and-response work song sung by military personnel while running or marching. In the United States, these cadences are sometimes called jody calls or jodies, after Jody, a recurring character who figures in some traditional cadences; Jody refers to the person with whom a servicemember’s significant other cheats while they are deployed.

Requiring no instruments to play, they are counterparts in oral military folklore of the military march. As a sort of work song, military cadences take their rhythms from the work being done (compare sea shanty). Many cadences have a call and response structure in which one servicemember initiates a line, and the remaining SMs complete it, thus instilling teamwork and camaraderie for completion. The cadence calls move to the beat and rhythm of the normal speed (quick time) march or running-in-formation (double time) march. This serves the purpose of keeping SMs "dressed", moving in step as a unit and in formation, while maintaining the correct beat or cadence.

On top of the psychological effects that cadences produce, it is also claimed that they produce significant physiological effects. Many indoctrinated individuals will state that singing a cadence while running or marching helps SMs keep their heads up, take deeper breaths and exhale more forcefully and that this increases oxygen to the lungs and gives the body more energy. They think that this in turn makes the unit healthier and better prepared, despite the lack of evidence. These ideas are propagated in articles like the one referenced, but they do not support their claims with any evidence. The practice of cadences is not common among elite professional runners or athletes, despite its claims to boost cardiovascular efficiency. Its use in Military training is more likely closer linked to tradition than to physiological benefits.

The word "cadence" was applied to these work songs because of an earlier meaning, in which it meant the number of steps a marcher or runner took per minute. The cadence was set by a drummer or Sergeant and discipline was extremely important, as keeping the cadence directly affected the travel speed of infantry. There were other purposes: the close-order drill was a particular cadence count for the complex sequence of loading and firing a musket. In the Revolutionary War, Baron von Steuben notably imported European battlefield techniques which persist, greatly modified, to this day.

"The Duckworth Chant" (or "Sound Off!")

A V-Disc issued in 1944 credits the origin of "Sound Off" ("The Duckworth Chant") to Private Willie Lee Duckworth of Sandersville, Georgia, an African American soldier serving in the United States Army.

... as a company ... was returning from a long tedious march through swamps and rough country, a chant broke the stillness of the night. Upon investigation, it was found that a Negro soldier by the name of Willie Duckworth, on detached service with the Provisional Training Center, was chanting to build up the spirits of his comrades.

It was not long before the infectious rhythm was spreading throughout the ranks. Tired soldiers started to pick up their step in cadence with the growing chorus of hearty male voices. Instead of a downtrodden, fatigued company, here marched 200 soldiers with heads up, spring to their step, and happy smiles on their faces. This transformation occurred with the beginning of the Duckworth Chant.

Upon returning to Fort Slocum, Pvt. Duckworth, with the aid of Provisional Training Center instructors, composed a series of verses and choruses to be used with the marching cadence. Since that eventful evening, the Duckworth Chant has been made a part of the drill at Fort Slocum as it proved to be not only a tremendous morale factor while marching, but also coordinated the movements of close-order drill with troop precision.

This original cadence was recorded as "Sound Off":

Sound-off; 1 - 2; Sound-off; 3 - 4; Cadence count; 1 - 2 - 3 - 4; 1 - 2 — 3 - 4.

This cadence, known as the "Duckworth Chant", still exists with variations in the different branches of the U.S. military. Duckworth's simple chant was elaborated on by Army drill sergeants and their trainees, and the practice of creating elaborate marching chants spread to the Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy.

A musical version of the chant was recorded by Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra (Voc.: Vaughn Monroe & Chorus in New York City) on March 7, 1951. It was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4113A (in USA) and by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10086.

A variant of that cadence was used in the 1949 film Battleground and in the 1981 film Taps, filmed at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, Pennsylvania. It appears in two versions in the film, both ending in the same cadence.

Collected cadences

Some common cadences include:

• "Old King Cole"
• "Blood On the Risers"
• "I Wish All the Girls Were"
• "Satan's Raiders"
• "Irene Irene" (Air Force cadence)
• "Captain Jack" (Army cadence)
• "Yellow Ribbon" (Army cadence)

As soon as 1952, the U.S. Army adopted The Army Goes Rolling Along as its service theme song, with the lyric "count off the cadence loud and strong" a reference to Duckworth's cadence. Its melody and lyrics derive from the traditional When the Caissons Go Rolling Along.

The United States Marine Corps and US Naval Academy use a modified version of the rhyme "Old King Cole", referencing Chesty Puller: "Chesty Puller was a good Marine and a good Marine was he".

"Jody calls"

In the United States, what are now known as cadences were called jody calls or jody (also jodie) from a recurring character, a civilian named "Jody", whose luxurious lifestyle is contrasted with military deprivations in several traditional calls. The mythical Jody refers to a civilian who remains at home instead of joining the military service. Jody is often presumed to be medically unfit for service, a 4F in WWII parlance. Jody also lacks the desirable attributes of military persons. He is neither brave nor squared away. Jody calls often make points with ironic humor. Jody will take advantage of a service member's significant other in the service member's absence. Jody stays at home, drives the SM’s car, and gets the SM’s sweetheart (often called "Susie") while the SM is in boot camp or in country.

The name derives from a stock character in African-American oral traditions, "Joe the Grinder". The character's name has been transcribed as "Joady", "Jody", "Jodie", "Joe D." or even "Joe the ____" (in dialect, "Joe de ____"), with Joe then identified by occupation. He was a stock villain who maliciously took advantage of another man's absence. Enlisted African-American soldiers incorporated this character into cadence songs during the Second World War.

Lineberry emphasizes conflicting uses of the calls: they are useful to command, in that they serve as instruments to psychologically detach the soldier from home-life and to inculcate a useful degree of aggression. They are useful to the soldier, who can vent dissatisfaction without taking individual responsibility for the expression. While jodies, strictly speaking, are folklore (they are not taught institutionally, and do not appear, for example, in FM 3-21.5, Drill and Ceremonies Field Manual), some are tolerated and even encouraged by leadership, while others are subversive.

Common themes in jodies include:

• Homesickness.
• Everyday complaints about military life.
• Boasts (of one's own unit) and insults (of one's competitor, which may be another unit, another service branch, or the enemy).
• Humorous and topical references.
• Loyalty.

Lineberry offers an alternative, psychologically and functionally oriented taxonomy. There are negative themes (disrespect expressed for deities, women, homosexuals, the enemy, and economically deprived comrades; graphic expression of violence perpetrated on women and the enemy, glorification of substance abuse) but also positive (unit pride, encouragement of comrades) and perhaps in-between, expressions of contempt for death and indifference to mortality.

Other

During the 2017 Venezuelan protests, a cadence sung by Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) officers which expresses wanting to kill protesters went viral: "Quisiera tener un puñal de acero para degollar a un maldito guarimbero" (Spanish: I wish I had a steel dagger to slit the throat of a damn guarimbero).

See also

• Drum cadence
• March (music)
• Military parade
• Fiddler's Green

Bibliography

• "ADA cadence calls." 1988. Source: Air Defense Artillery. May–June, 1988, pp. 33–40.
• Casey, Ryan. 2002. Cadences of the U.S. Marine Corps. San Diego, CA: Documentary Recordings. "Cadence calling directions; U.S. Marine Corps running cadences; Recon Marines; U.S. Marine Corps pride; Service rivalries; U.S. Marine drill instructors; Humorous cadences; From WWII to the War on Terror; 'Shorties'; U.S. Marine Corps marching cadences." ISBN 0972428100; 9780972428101.
• Deutsche Bundeswehr. 2008. German Army morning running cadence. "This is our own style and not a copy. Running cadences have to be faster than marching cadences. When marching, we're chanting "Infanterie, du bist die Krone aller Waffen", "Hätt ich nur eine Krone", "Grün ist unser Fallschirm", "Oh du schöner Westerwald", "Grüne Teufel" etc. Every branch has their own traditional cadences."
• Dunnigan, Timothy P. 1997. Modern military cadence. Alexandria, Va: Byrd Enterprises.
• Engstrom, John, and P. C. Butler. 1987. Count cadence count. Fallbrook, Calif: Best Military Publications.
• Frary, Joel. 2006. Army cadences. "Frary discusses the origin and importance of cadences in both a historical and moral context. Also, a brief background of the purposes of cadences, including their emotional, artistic and traditional attributes are discussed."
• Jody calls, armor cavalry. 1976. [Fort Knox, Ky.?]: Army. "Armor cavalry jody calls".
• Johnson, Sandee Shaffer. 1900. Cadences: the Jody call book. Canton, Ohio: Daring Press. ISBN 0938936115; 9780938936114.
• United States Army Infantry Center. 1984. Jody calls. Ft. Benning, Ga: The Center.

External links

• The Cadence Page
• more background on the Duckworth cadence
• Link to mp3 and a full text of the Jody Cadence
• Special Operations.com Cadence Database