Each special military operation serves a very important purpose for the U.S. Armed Forces and the world at large. Whether that be Operation Neptune Spearโs task of eliminating terrorist leader Osama bin Laden or Operation Overlordโs goal of successfully invading Normandy and stifling German oppressors, each mission we undertake is important. Unfortunately, not all mission names are as cool as those two.
Weโve got a sampling of the strangest, weirdest, and most questionable names for special military operations youโve gotta hear.
More like this: Top 9 Facts About Operation Neptune Spear & Killing Bin Laden
12 Insane But Real Special Military Operation Names
1. Operation BIGOT
Ironically enough, this goes directly back to the Normandy invasion. BIGOT stood for โBritish Invasion of German Occupied Territory.โ Officers assigned to the operation were even nicknamed โBigot Officers.โ Unfortunate, indeed.
2. Operation Nimrod
Again from our good friends across the pond in the UK, Operation Nimrod was the term used for the Iranian Embassy Siege, a counter-terrorist op, in 1980. โNimrodโ may be a modern-day insult, but the operation launched the nationโs SAS (Special Air Service) into permanent popularity.
3. Operation All-American Tiger
We might not be zoologists here, but weโre pretty sure an โAll-American Tigerโ doesnโt exist in nature. Regardless, this was the codename used during the Iraq War for missions where Soldiers would clear populations residing around the Euphrates as they tried to capture insurgent leaders.
The operationโs name makes a lot of sense, though, when you donโt think about it from a literal standpoint. The two military divisions involved in the op were the 82nd Airborne โAll-Americanโ and 3rd Armored Cavalry โTigerโ squadrons.
4. Operation Viking Snatch
U.S. military operation names donโt get much more suggestive than this. Weโre not gonna go too deeply into all the alternative meanings of this one, but this was another Iraq War operation โ this time to stop weapon smuggling.
During the mission, troops had to use an offroad vehicle developed by the company Viking. They also had to use something called a โsnatch strapโ pretty often, which is a rope used to pull stuck vehicles out of the sand.
5. Operation Menu (ft. Operations Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, and Dessert)
Talk about sticking to a theme! This United States SAC mission was a bombing campaign against Cambodia in 1969. Each mission on the menu was to take place in different base areas throughout Cambodia. The success of the missions, and Operation Breakfast, in particular, earn the menu 5 Michelin Stars.
6. Operation Toenails
This special military operation was the Allied invasion of New Georgia (not the American state) during WWII. The meaning behind the name has unfortunately been lost, but weโre open to suggestions of what the logic mightโve been!
7. Operation Red Bean
This is just too random not to include. Operation Red Bean, or the Battle of Kolwezi, was a French and Belgian invasion of Zaire aimed at rescuing Zairian and European people held hostage.
8. Operation Frequent Wind
You canโt have Operation Red Bean without Operation Frequent Wind following directly after.
This was a 1975 military operation where American forces evacuated at-risk Vietnamese civilians and Americans in Saigon before the Fall of Saigon.
Itโs safely assumed that the codename comes from the fact that the mission was helicopter based, with 81 helicopters evacuating roughly 7,000 people in the span of two days. Still, *insert fart joke here.*
9. Operation Magneto
This one is strange because this operation came some 20 years before the creation of the popular X-Man who goes by the same name. Operation Magneto was a WWII โbig threeโ Allied conference held in Crimea in 1945.
10. Operation Chattanooga Choo-Choo
No weโre not talking about a fun, historical childrenโs ride in Tennessee. This was a plan to bomb German railways back in 1944 in an attempt to stifle Nazi labor.
Just a few years before, Glenn Miller had released a song called โChattanooga Choo Chooโ that blew up to massive popularity, and since that referenced a train, there was enough tangential connection that they just went with it.
11. Operation Demon Digger
Another awesome installment from the Iraq War, this operation had troops recovering weapon caches along the Tigris River. These caches were filled with rocket-propelled grenades and 60mm mortar rounds. So they were digging for some truly demonic weaponryโฆ or at least thatโs the closest explanation we have for the name.
12. Operation Beaver Cage
This Vietnam operation was launched against the Viet Cong in 1967. It consisted of helicopters mounting an attack against the growing Viet Cong forces, who lost 181 people as a result of the operation, and flushing out their underground tunnels.
Thinking about it literally might shed a bit of light on the name. Beavers build tunnels underneath their lodges and dams, and many entrances are underwater. This makes it hard for predators to attack them. Maybe this was what the military was getting at with the title of this one? Who knows.
Military Operation Name Generator
Were these weird names not enough? You can get your own military operation names with this military operation name generator. Here are some of the funniest ones we got that could rival some of the real-life ones we mentioned:
- Operation Cookie Crumbles
- Operation Carrot Stick
- Operation Jungle Maniac
- Operation Out Of Mana
- Operation Pink Giant
Weirdly-Named Operations Are Still Important
These special military operations may sound funny, and a few have no obvious explanations, but that doesnโt mean that their missions were any less important than less-weird-sounding operation names. While itโs great to laugh at the odd optics of some of these, donโt forget the men and women behind them who sacrificed so much to make them successful and keep you safe.
Read next: 7 D-Day Facts & The History Behind Them
Image: Photo by Maj. Robert Fellingham | 12th Combat Aviation Brigade; The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement