James G
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Post by James G on Apr 11, 2018 21:50:13 GMT
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spanishspy
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Post by spanishspy on Apr 12, 2018 1:10:01 GMT
My favorite story about this is how Operation Iraqi Liberation was changed to Operation Iraqi Freedom because of the acronym.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 12, 2018 3:11:05 GMT
Operation Desert Fox, the December 1998 bombing of Iraq is a name i never understood, was somebody in the Pentagon a fan of Rommel ore something they gave it this name.
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spanishspy
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Post by spanishspy on Apr 12, 2018 5:54:05 GMT
Operation Desert Fox, the December 1998 bombing of Iraq is a name i never understood, was somebody in the Pentagon a fan of Rommel ore something they gave it this name. It links up with "Desert Storm." Incidentally I am currently reading a book that discussed Desert Storm and Desert Fox a good fair bit. |
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James G
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Post by James G on Apr 12, 2018 5:58:30 GMT
Operation Desert Fox, the December 1998 bombing of Iraq is a name i never understood, was somebody in the Pentagon a fan of Rommel ore something they gave it this name. I believe that they were working down a list with that one. Desert Strike was one planned op months beforehand which never happened at the last minute; Desert Thunder was another. Then Desert Fox was next on the list and given a go. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2018 10:43:33 GMT
The ground offensive of Desert Storm was called Desert Sabre, (originally Desert Sword) & as Michael Caine says 'not a lot of people know that'
Desert Storm referred only to the air campaign against Kuwait-Iraq.
The build up of forces prior to Desert Storm was Desert Shield, of course, unless your were French or British in which case the entire thing was Daguet or Granby.
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James G
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Post by James G on Apr 12, 2018 11:24:17 GMT
I'm sure that at some point in the near future, the British Armed Forces will switch to 'inspiring' codenames too. That will be a political thing though.
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Apr 12, 2018 11:43:55 GMT
I'm sure that at some point in the near future, the British Armed Forces will switch to 'inspiring' codenames too. That will be a political thing though. Probably as it sounds like something stupid enough for the average politician. There is a case for not having stupid sounding names, or anything that can cause problems, say because it was offensive to some group or could be used for hostile propaganda, such as the OIL acronym that SpanishSpy mentioned. [On that I wish he had used a different bloody name himself so I could abbreviate it rather than having to write it in full every time! Doesn't he understand I'm a lazy sod!  ] I have read that Britain went for randomly produced names because there was the danger that something would be selected that might give opponents a clear to the operations purpose. [For instance Operation Neptune being a large naval operation.  Would have been an ideal name for an operation in a desert. Now there is a difference being randomly produced, which can generate stupid or inappropriate names and being randomly selected from a list of pre-prepared names and does give the option of rejecting a name unsuitable for that particular purpose. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2018 13:47:19 GMT
It was suggested that the codename for Britain's second armed excursion in Iraq, Telic, was an acronym, and stood for Tell Everyone Leave Is Cancelled!
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 12, 2018 14:05:32 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2018 14:15:23 GMT
I'm surprised that article didn't notice that most Third Reich operations that had names were invariably failures or cancelled. Only Operations Barbarossa and Merkur defy this rule |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 12, 2018 14:21:30 GMT
I'm surprised that article didn't notice that most Third Reich operations that had names were invariably failures or cancelled. Only Operations Barbarossa and Merkur defy this rule Well they do have one of the most famous and i think one of the most discussed operation on many AH forums, i think you know which one i am talking about. |
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jasonsnow
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Post by jasonsnow on Apr 12, 2018 14:27:01 GMT
I'm surprised that article didn't notice that most Third Reich operations that had names were invariably failures or cancelled. Only Operations Barbarossa and Merkur defy this rule The absolute boss of naming military operations are the Nazis. Operation Blue, Operation Yellow, Operation Green... What they lacked in creativity they compensated in relentless military efficiency. |
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James G
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Post by James G on Apr 12, 2018 14:28:53 GMT
With the Panama invasion, Colin Powell who was then the chairman of the joint chiefs liked the name Just Cause because it would be said in the media even by opponents: thus helping the propaganda effort for the conflict.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 12, 2018 14:29:33 GMT
I'm surprised that article didn't notice that most Third Reich operations that had names were invariably failures or cancelled. Only Operations Barbarossa and Merkur defy this rule The absolute boss of naming military operations are the Nazis. Operation Blue, Operation Yellow, Operation Green... What they lacked in creativity they compensated in relentless military efficiency. I do also like British names: UK military operation namesAnd then we need to find if the list here is as awesome as it says it is: The Most Awesomely American Names for Military Operations |
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Would have been an ideal name for an operation in a desert. Now there is a difference being randomly produced, which can generate stupid or inappropriate names and being randomly selected from a list of pre-prepared names and does give the option of rejecting a name unsuitable for that particular purpose.