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PrintMay 5, 2011
The true meaning of Geronimo
I am a retired US Army Sergeant First Class with multiple combat tours to the middle east. I currently am employed as an civilian contractor at Ft. Polk, LA, Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC). I will explain the use of the term "GERONIMO" as used by SpecOps to refer to OBL.
The 509th Airborne Infantry Regiment whose official motto is "GERONIMO!" is stationed here, and their mission is to act as the Opposing Forces (OPFOR) enemy to the military units who come here to train before deployment. Their motto comes from an Army tradition from WWII whereas paratroopers would yell "GERONIMO" when they exited the aircraft, and has been an Army tradition ever since.
So, as the 509th's official motto, and they replicate the "enemy" here to training units, they are officially referred to as "GERONIMOs" or simply "G-men." Since OBL was the enemy and the SpecOp teams train here, it's a no-brainer as to why they code-named him "GERONIMO." It has NOTHING, repeat NOTHING to do with Native Americans. In fact, in real-life combat operations the enemy is quite often generically referred to as "GERONIMOs."
