The 25 Least Inspiring Military Operation Names
Come on military, naming operations shouldn't be complicated. If you can't do it yourself, hire the guy who named Metallica tours in the '80s. We'd bet the troops would feel pretty close to indestructible riding into battle as a part of "Operation Ride the Lighting."
Instead they're asked to rally behind these monuments to self-parody. These are all real names of military operations. And besides the few times we specify otherwise, they're brought to you courtesy of our very own American military. USA! USA!

What Was It?
Cleared three large neighborhoods in Baghdad.
Sounds Like:
Someone watched a lot of late night HBO in the '80s.

What Was It?
1993 Canadian mission to Somalia.
Sounds Like:
" ... and introducing Canada as Ned Beatty."

What Was It?
Mission to disrupt weapons smuggling.
Sounds Like:
Sure it's scary. Months at sea. Little hygiene down there. But not the kind of scary we're looking for.

What Was It?
Official name used by the U.S. Government for a military campaign in the global war on terrorism
Sounds Like:
The part of the war on terror that fights against unsightly pantylines.

What Was It?
2003 Department of Homeland Security operations to enhance security at U.S. installations.
Sounds Like:
" ... and not one accidental pregnancy during the entire operation."

What Was It?
Counter-insurgency operation in Iraq.
Sounds Like:
Mordor is invading Rivendell!

What Was It?
2005 military security support to the 2005 presidential inauguration.
Sounds Like:
What the liberal half of the nation's collective ass felt like.

What Was It?
Alongside Iraqi military, 100 Marines search Fallujah.
Sounds Like:
The most transparent bait and switch any army recruiter ever tried to pull on a high school dropout.

What Was It?
Operation west of Baghdad to disrupt car bombing.
Sounds Like:
"Hey, now, we never claimed to be superior soldiers. Merely adequate."

What Was It?
2003 attempt to capture Saddam Hussein's associates.
Sounds Like:
The #4 on Chinese takeout menu.

What Was It?
2004 Iraq mission classified either because of sensitive information or embarrassment by all involved.
Sounds Like:
What happened when they let the gay Ivy Leaguer name the missions.

What Was It?
Disrupting insurgent mortar attacks.
Sounds Like:
Whoever named this mission didn't see Jaws IV.

What Was It?
Mission to deter illicit activity along Iraqi border.
Sounds Like:
"Guys I think I know why they laughed at us for Jaws V. The sea creature we named it after was too damn big."

What Was It?
1973 American airlift to Israel during 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Sounds Like:
It's true, weed was cheap back then.

What Was It?
Mission to provide more security near Tarmiya in Iraq.
Sounds Like:
What the power strip takes against dampness and odor, according to Bam Margera.








Haha! Mustang Flex! Proof that trying to sound too manly just makes you sound super gay
ReplyHalf of these sound like names for pornographic films.
ReplyNot sure how Operation Soda Mountain didn't make it on here. I mean come on, a mountain of sodas, really threatening.
ReplyI was tricked into reading this article by the promise of comedy.
ReplyActually, #15 sounds more like you can't be bothered read anything you've just written.
ReplyIn fact, a lot of them sound like that.
Herp derp.
OEF isn't bad...
Replygrizzly forced entry, huh? thanks cracked. now i'll never get that image out of my head
ReplyWhat about... Operation Hot Mother?
ReplyAhaha! Someone forgot to '>' their tag! How amusing...
Replywhat? all these sounded awesome, legitimate.
Reply...wha... what the hell happened to the font? is this... is this insanity?
I was involved in one of the least creative operations ever, "Operation Defeat al Qaeda in the North." I was definitely expecting something cool, but that was the best they could come up with to call an operation involving the 82nd Airborne and some companies from the Marine Corps breaking up al Qaeda in Iraq supply lines where almost all of the enemy combatants were foreign fighters. Go figure
ReplySome of these aren't too bad, I'd fight in "Operation Punisher III".
ReplyUS military had a policy that operations are named randomly so that if enemy learns the namethey can't learn what it's about from the name only. Of course sometimes this is changed (e.g. Desert Shield/Storm, Iraqi Freedom), mostly for PR reasons
Reply Hide All See All 4 RepliesSame in the UK.
But the UK military consists of 600 knights and James Bond so it's kinda redundant.
One wonders what enemy intelligence must have thought of Grizzly Forced Entry.
Have you not seen Monty Python those knights can take severed limbs and keep going imagine how nasty things got when we gave them bolters and power armour.
I shall say one thing to this.. If we ever end up fighting the Argentinians again,
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesJesus, Cracked, WTF are you doing to my comments?
Continuing where I left off..
..., the operation really needs to be Op Corporate 2, this time it's personal.
British? Don't worry, I hate Argentina too.
Sure f**k those bastards, same with bolivians, colombians and that sort of countrys. They are so... so f**king southamericans
At the start, "We'd bet the troops would feel pretty close to indestructible riding into battle as a part of "Operation Ride the Lighting."" Is that where soldiers mount beasts made of lightbulbs and tablelamps, and charge into battle in all their fluorescent glory?
ReplyWhat about Operation Rooster 53 (Tarnagol 53). In the 60's Israel launched an op to steal a soviet radar in Egypt and bring it back to Israel and they did and handed over to the US
ReplyWell thats not really uninspiring is it.
Am I the only one creeped out by the way Nicholas Cage's arm looks up there?
ReplyHoly s**t that looks scary, I was distracted by how odd his face always seems to me.
how is operation punisher 2 not pretty badass? and think about it, there was already one operation punisher, which makes 2 twice as bad
ReplyWhen the Labour Party were having their annual conference in a town near me the ability for police to be armed in the area was called 'Operation Otter'. I thought that was pretty weak
ReplyOperation names in the UK are assigned randomly to ensure OPSEC.
No, it's shoo-in.
Reply