It is adapted from an earlier work from 1908 entitled "The Caissons Go Rolling Along", which was in turn incorporated into John Philip Sousa's "U.S. Field Artillery March" in 1917.
[3] The United States Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard had adopted official songs, and the Army was eager to find one of its own.
[4] In 1952, Secretary of the Army Frank Pace asked the music industry to submit songs; he received more than 800 entries.
Harold W. Arberg, a music advisor to the Adjutant General, submitted lyrics that the Army adopted.
[6] Secretary of the Army Wilber Marion Brucker dedicated the music on Veterans Day, November 11, 1956.