THE AMATEUR WORD NERD: Infantry has grown up

By Barbara McAllister

Word of the Day: Infantry

Infantries are the backbone of the military. They are the ground troops who fight on foot and engage with the enemy in close-range combat. They are the ones referred to as “grunts,” arguably an acronym for General Replacement Unit Not Trained but mostly an acknowledgement that the infantry comprises the guys who do the thankless work to get the job done.
If the word infantry sounds like it’s related to childish matters, it’s because it is. The word is exactly as its root suggests, from the Latin for infancy. Historically, those who were too young, too inexperienced, or too poor to have a horse ended up as a foot soldier, or infantryman. Those with money, status and most of all, a horse, would be part of the more elite cavalry.
The root Latin of infans means “unable to speak,” a term which may equally apply to infantry. Infantrymen follow orders without question and are not permitted an opinion or a choice in any decision. Infantrymen, though, are no longer viewed as young and inexperienced. They are professionals who undergo intense training to acquire critical skills in a demanding and challenging vocation. In the U.S. Army, their mission is to serve the American people, defend the nation and protect vital national interests.
The U.S. Army is older than the country itself, because colonists needed to organize their unstructured militia to fight the professional British soldiers near Boston in the spring of 1775. As a result, the Army was established through a resolution from the Continental Congress. Today the Army is America’s second largest employer and owns more land than the states of Hawaii and Massachusetts combined.
The Army’s most effective recruiting slogan in recent years has been “Be All You Can Be,” which highlighted individual growth and achievement as a team member. It’s a more positive message than the British army’s motto “Death or Glory.”