The "missing "J Company in the US Cavalry

[noggy]

Hi

So a 12 company regiment was labeled A-M. J is excluded. I`ve seen two explanations, at least, to this;

1. The letter "J" was too easy to confuse with "I" in handwriting, making written orders potentially confusing. This seems fairly logical.

2. Some sort of almost superstitious "bad luck" thing regarding the letter/pure traditional reasons to not use it.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I recall some other alleged reasons. Anyone care to enlighten me for the umpteenth time?

All the best,
Noggy

[mikerobel]

Its #1. The US Army still doesn't use J to my knowledge.

[usmcprice]

Jan 24, 2021 12:02:22 GMT -6 noggy said:

Hi

So a 12 company regiment was labeled A-M. J is excluded. I`ve seen two explanations, at least, to this;

1. The letter "J" was too easy to confuse with "I" in handwriting, making written orders potentially confusing. This seems fairly logical.

2. Some sort of almost superstitious "bad luck" thing regarding the letter/pure traditional reasons to not use it.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I recall some other alleged reasons. Anyone care to enlighten me for the umpteenth time?

All the best,
Noggy

The "I" "J" confusion explanation is accurate. The handwritten I and J can be confused. I don't know how far back this goes, at least pre-American Civil War times. It is still the convention in the US military. 

[herosrest]

^Ducemus

Jesus.