I went to a military high school up until 2011 and never remember hearing it. My dad and grandpa were military for 20 years each and I've never heard either say it. It definitely hasn't been used broadly in the US for very long (maybe in very specific circles). Even my friends who work as engineers for defense contractors now have never called people "war fighters" around me.

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j-bos 13 hours ago | parent [-]

It's been on thr MRE's for decades, hasn't it? At least that's what I remember seeing after disaster relief came in.

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tdb7893 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Idk, it might've been used on stuff in the past. My point was that it wasn't a thing that normal people (even normal people in the military) would say. The person I'm responding to described it as "common use" for the last couple decades and that just doesn't match up with my experience at all.

	▲	grosswait 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The actual warfighters probably don’t use the term, but it has been common for at least 20 years among the staff and contractors supporting them.