why does the military use the term "roger"?

Answer 1

The military uses the term "ROGER" becuase it has an analogy attached to it.

R -- Record
O -- Obsereve
G -- Guidance
E -- Expediate
R -- Report

It is commonly misued meaning "ok" or "understood" but it orginally meant to watch for an AO (Area of Operations)

Answer 2

Pilots and other military types say “roger” to acknowledge receipt of a message or instructions. “Roger” at one time was the phonetic designation for the letter R, which in turn stood for “received.” Why not just say "received"? From a safety perspective, it makes sense to use standardized language, particularly when dealing with international operations. An American pilot may not understand German, but they both understand aviation terminology. The International Civil Aviation Organization oversees this standardization and disseminates it accordingly.

The use of “roger” isn't all that old. In the military's phonetic alphabet, "roger" didn't become the designation for R until 1927. (Previously the designation had been "rush.") The first citation given by the Oxford English Dictionary for “roger” in the sense of "received" dates from 1941, coinciding with U.S. entry into WWII. The term made the big time in 1943, when the Army Signal Corps incorporated it into one of its procedural manuals.

In 1957 "roger" was replaced by "romeo," the current designation, but by then "roger" = "received" was so entrenched that the brass knew better than to try and change it.

Answer 3

The R in the old phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie...) was "Roger"... and when information were sent via radio, the radio operators would simply answer with an R, or "Roger" meaning "Received." It's simply an acknowledgement that the message was received. When ORDERS were sent via radio, the response was "Will Cooperate".. which was shortened to "Willco".... so, a "Roger, Willco" means, "message received, will comply with the order."

Answer 4

Its pretty much just a way to let the next guy know that you have acknowledge the last thing he/she has said. Roger

Answer 5

To indicate the message is received, then it is usually folloed by the term "wilco", which means will comply with instructions in the message. Out means they are signing off the air, transmission ended.

Answer 6

It is a brevity word used for close air support and used in normal every day speech by the military.

Just like "splash" is used for impact of weapons/bombs.

Answer 7

Wow, finally an intelligent question! No snide comments, no name calling, no hate. Perhaps there hope for Yahoo Answers after all.

I just wish I knew the answer.

Answer 8

Where it was first used ,don't know.What was needed was an acknowledgment when conversing over the radio.

Answer 9

Because cubby sounded a little poofy. lol

Answer 10

I know what it means just have no idea why they use it!