WASHINGTON D.C. — On June 14th, 1775, the dream of independence drove the Thirteen Colonies to forge their first fighting force: the Continental Army. Two decades later it was renamed the United States Army and remains America’s largest branch of the military. At 241 years old today, those ranks have never looked better.
With nearly half a million troops on active duty, the U.S. Army celebrates its birthday in almost 150 countries all over the world. Principled in maintaining the smartest and fittest overwhelming force, the U.S. Army has certainly earned its cake.
Using the hashtag #earnyourcake, soldiers are celebrating in the most “hooah” of ways: PT (physical training). Videos of troops doing their workout of the day have flooded to Twitter and Instagram.
Happy Bday from #Baghdad, @USArmy! Ran with @CJTFOIR LTG MacFarland and CSM Smith, then ate some cake. #EarnYourCake pic.twitter.com/gk54E80HIZ
— Gary Volesky (@GVolesky) June 14, 2016
But in addition to pushups, soldiers are also getting some dessert on the side. In the Army, cake-cutting ceremonies are a time-honored tradition in which unit commanders join their soldiers to commemorate the occasion.
Col. Bill Williams, deputy chief of staff of U.S. Army Europe, sliced through a massive cake in Wiesbaden, Germany on Tuesday:
.@USArmyEurope earned its cake, now it’s going to eat it too. Happy 241st birthday US Army. #ArmyBDay #EarnYourCake pic.twitter.com/4YDnvuEBej
— U.S. Army Europe (@USArmyEurope) June 14, 2016
Celebrations will continue through the week with cake-cutting ceremonies at the Capitol and the Pentagon on the 15th and 17th, followed by the Army Birthday Ball on the 18th in Washington D.C.