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List of U.S. Department of Defense and partner code names

List of DoD code names From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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This is an incomplete list of U.S. Department of Defense code names primarily the two-word series variety. Officially, Arkin (2005) says that there are three types of code name:

  • Nicknames – a combination of two separate unassociated and unclassified words (e.g. Polo and Step) assigned to represent a specific program, special access program, exercise, or activity.
  • Code words – a single classified word (e.g. BYEMAN) which identifies a specific special access program or portion. A list of several such code words can be seen at Byeman Control System, though the Byman Control System itself has now ceased to be used.
  • Exercise terms – a combination of two words, normally unclassified, used exclusively to designate an exercise or test[1]

In 1975, the Joint Chiefs of Staff introduced the Code Word, Nickname, and Exercise Term System (NICKA) which automated the assignment of names. NICKA gives each DOD organization a series of two-letter alphabetic sequences, requiring each 'first word' or a nickname to begin with a letter pair. For example, AG through AL was assigned to United States Joint Forces Command.[1]

The general system described above is now in use by NATO, the United Kingdom, Canada (Atlantic Guard, Atlantic Spear, Atlantic Shield) Australia and New Zealand, and allies/partners including countries like Sweden.

Most of the below listings are "Nicknames."

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List of code names

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A

  • Able – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Allied Command Europe (ACE) and U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) nuclear weapons exercise first word. First gained prominence after the Able Archer 83 nuclear command and control exercise.
    • Able Ally – annual command post exercise involving escalation to nuclear use. Held November/December/
    • Able Archer 83 – nuclear command and control exercise
    • Able Crystal – nuclear weapons related exercise
    • Able Gain – annual United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) field training exercise involving NATO Nuclear sharing forces
    • Able Staff – command post exercise, April–September 1997, practicing Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR)'s nuclear warning system.
  • Able – Coast Guard first word
    • Able Manner – Windward Passage patrols to interdict Haitian migrants, January 1993-November 1993.
    • Able Response
    • Able Vigil
  • Able Avionics – Air Training Command program of 1976 to provide only elemental training for avionics systems maintenance at training centers, with further training given at field training detachments.[2]
  • Able Chief – Air Training Command program of 1976 to provide only elemental training for crew chiefs at training centers, with further training given at field training detachments.[2]
  • Able Danger – A program and compartment led by the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). It was created as a result of a directive from the Joint Chiefs of Staff in early October 1999 by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Hugh Shelton, to develop an information operations campaign plan against transnational terrorism.[3]
  • Able Mable – US Air Force top-secret RF-101C Voodoo reconnaissance aircraft flights over Southeast Asia confirming communist activity in South Vietnam and Laos[4][5]
  • Operation Able Sentry/Sabre 1993–1999 – U.S. Army task force attached to United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in Macedonia to monitor border activity.
  • Ace Guard – NATO deployment of the ACE Mobile Force (Air) and surface to air missiles to Turkey, between 3 January 1991 – 8 March 1991.[6] Turkey had requested greater NATO forces to be deployed to meet any Iraqi threat after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990.
  • Operation Acid Gambit – Operation undertaken by U.S. Army Delta Force and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment to rescue Kurt Muse, a U.S. citizen involved in the broadcast of anti-Noriega material, during the United States invasion of Panama, 1989.
  • Active Edge – Routine no-notice NATO Allied Forces Central Europe readiness exercise held twice yearly. "The most recent such exercise took place, on the date and in the format planned, on 12th June 1989. It did not include the exercise deployment of forces outside their garrisons." (House of Lords Debate 27 June 1989)[7]
  • Operation Active Endeavour – NATO Allied Forces Southern Europe Mediterranean patrols
  • Operation Active Fence – operations to guard NATO border during Syrian fighting
  • Adventure – ACE Mobile Force first word
    • Adventure Exchange – command post exercise
    • Adventure Express – winter exercise series, dating to at least 1983.
  • African – U.S.-Moroccan European Command (EUCOM) (now Africa Command) first word
  • Exercise Agile Spirit 19 began with dual opening ceremonies at Senaki Air Base and Vaziani Training Area in the country of Georgia on July 27, 2019. Approximately 3,300 military personnel from 14 allied and partner forces were expected to participate in the exercise.[9]
  • Exercise Alam Halfa – U.S.-New Zealand, NZ-sponsored land forces exercise, Linton and Napier, central North Island, April 26-May 6, 2012. The new exercise series, according to the New Zealand Herald, was made possible by the "Wellington Declaration" signed by the two countries in November 2010.[10] Continued probably yearly after that point; Alam Halfa 2013. Named for the Battle of Alam Halfa during World War II.
  • Allied – NATO Allied Command Europe first word
    • Allied Action – Combined Joint Task Force exercises, in the sense of greater European Union involvement in military affairs. See Berlin Plus agreement.
    • Allied Effort – Combined Joint Task Force exercises, in the sense of greater European Union involvement in military affairs. See Berlin Plus agreement. Allied Effort 01 had the CJTF exercising in Wrocław, Poland. Also reported as codename for NATO's maritime operation in the Adriatic Sea during the Kosovo crisis in 1999.
    • Operation Allied Force 1999 – Air war over Serbia to withdraw forces from Kosovo.
    • Operations Allied Goodwill I & II, 4–9 February & 27 February-24 March 1992. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, NATO flew teams of humanitarian assistance experts and medical advisors to Russia and other former Soviet states using NATO Airborne Early Warning Force trainer cargo aircraft.
    • Operation Allied Harmony was launched in December 2002 to provide NATO advisory elements to assist the Macedonian government in ensuring stability.[11]
    • Operation Allied Protector - anti-piracy operation undertaken by NATO forces from March – August 2009 in the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, and the Guardafui Channel to protect International Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) maritime routes from pirates. Succeeded by Ocean Shield.
    • Allied Provider - initial NATO anti-piracy operation in Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. Succeeded by Allied Protector.
    • Operation Allied Solace - NATO operation in 2021 after collapse of Afghan government to receive NATO-affiliated Afghan evacuees from Afghanistan and to arrange their onward transport and resettlement.
  • Exercise Amalgam Virgo – A North American Aerospace Defense Command counter-terrorist and field training exercise (FTX) carried out in Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida in early June 2001.[12]
  • Amalgam Warrior – North American Aerospace Defense Command air defense exercise
  • Operation Amber Star – Delta Force and Intelligence Support Activity anti-Persons Indicted for War Crimes (PIFWC) reconnaissance and surveillance, Bosnia-Herzegovina[13]
  • Ample Gain – See Ample Train
  • Exercise Ample Strike – In August and September 2017, the 307th Bomb Wing supported and participated in Exercise Ample Strike, which was Czech Republic led with two B-52s and two B-1s. This was a critical, annual exercise meant to increase proficiency levels of all forward air controllers and joint terminal air controllers, as well as to improve standardization and interoperability across NATO Allies and partners that included multiple European countries.
  • Ample Train (previously Ample Gain) – Exercise "initiated to improve the ability of NATO's Air Forces to work on and with each others aircraft; ground servicing crews from one nation [worked] with air crew and aircraft from other nations."[14]
  • Anatolian Eagle – an air force exercise hosted by the Turkish Air Force (TAF) and held in Konya, Turkey. There are both national and international exercises held, the international exercises usually involving air arms of the United States, other NATO forces, and Asian countries. The first exercise, Anatolian Eagle 01, was held by TAF Operations Command on 18–29 June 2001. As well as Turkey, the air forces of USA and Israel also participated.[15]
  • Exercise Anchor Express – In late February and early March 1986, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines deployed to Nordland and Troms counties of Norway, near Evenes and Brøstadbotn, as the main US ski-mobile maneuver element of the 4th Marine Amphibious Brigade commanded by then Brigadier General Carl E. Mundy Jr., taking a leading role in the multi-national NATO winter exercise, "Anchor Express". The wintry, subfreezing weather, unprecedented level of snow, and the rugged terrain in the operating area of "Anchor Express" astride Salangenfjord, Faksfjorden and Lavangenfjord tested 2/4's ski-borne Marines to their limits. Such was the deep snow, extremely steep mountains in fjord country and gusty subzero winds that on 5 March 1986, a devastating avalanche in Vassdalen, Nordland, struck 31 fellow-Norwegian soldiers, killing sixteen engineers from the elite Norwegian Army unit Brigade North, many of whose soldiers operating with 2/4 during the exercise. The Vassdalen avalanche was Norway's worst disaster involving the military since the German invasion of Norway (1940). As a result, Norway went into mourning and the force-on-force exercise prematurely ended.
  • Operation Anchor Guard – 10 August 1990 – 9 March 1991. Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait of 2 August 1990, Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft of the NATO Airborne Early Warning Force were moved to Konya, Turkey to monitor the situation.[6] The aircraft remained at Konya to maintain surveillance of south-eastern Turkey throughout the crisis, which led to the Gulf War of January–March 1991.
  • Exercise Anorak Express – NATO exercise in 1980. In January 1980, USS Saipan (LHA-2) was out to sea to an amphibious landing at Cape Code in preparation for the exercise. Sailing February 14 for Northern Norway, the ship entered her first operational deployment.[16]
  • Arabian Gauntlet - CENTCOM/United States Fifth Fleet mine clearance and Sea lines of communication exercise. Held 1999–2005.[17]
  • Arcade - NATO Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps exercise series preparatory to deployment.[18]
Arcade Azimuth[18]
Arcade Bugle[18]
Arcade Falcon[18]
ARRCade Fusion, the annual computer-assisted warfighting Command Post Exercise[18]
Arcade Globe[18]
Arcade Guard.[18]
  • Operation Arc Light – B-52 operations in Southeast Asia, primarily bombing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam); South Vietnam; and Cambodia. Bombing Cambodian border areas was intended to hinder North Vietnamese use of the Ho Chi Minh Trail supply line to South Vietnam.
  • Operation Argus – Series of low-yield, high-altitude nuclear testing and missile tests secretly conducted from 27 August to 9 September 1958 over the South Atlantic
  • Operation Arid Farmer – 1983 Support to the crisis in Chad
  • Ardent Sentry – annual U.S. Northern Command homeland security/defense exercise.[19]
  • Armada Sweep – U.S. Navy electronic surveillance from ships off the coast of East Africa to support drone operations in the region.[20]
  • Project Arrow – 1955 project by Air Defense Command to replace its post World War II air defense groups with fighter groups with "memorable recrds" in the two World Wars[21]
  • Operation Assured Delivery – United States Department of Defense (DOD) logistical support to humanitarian aid efforts in Georgia following the Russo-Georgian War in 2008.
  • Assured Lift – a Joint Task Force carried out move of Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group cease-fire monitoring troops into Liberia, March–April 1997, from Abidjan. See also European Command documentation.[22]
  • Assured Response – a Joint Task Force carried out Non-combatant evacuation operation from Monrovia, Liberia, 8 April-12 August 1996. Run by Special Operations Command, Europe.[22]
  • Exercise Atlantic Guard – Canadian interagency homeland security exercise (May 2002, Land Forces Atlantic Area (LFAA))[23]
  • Exercise Atlantic Shield – Canadian interagency homeland security exercise (12 May 2003, hosted by Halifax Port Authority[23]
  • Exercise Atlantic Spear – Canadian interagency homeland security exercise (18-22 November 2002, hosted by LFAA)[23]
  • Atlantic Trident - trilateral air combat / coordination exercise involving U.S., UK, and France. Led by United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa. 2025 iteration taking place in Finland.
  • Atlas – U.S. European Command/Africa Command African and sometimes European operation first word
    • Atlas/Central Accord – Started by U.S. European Command in 1996, at which time it was called Atlas Drop. United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) took over the exercise in 2008, and renamed it Atlas Accord in 2012. This put it in line with AFRICOM's other “Accord series” exercises, which focus on training African ground forces. Atlas Accord 12 was an AFRICOM Mali-based medical exercise conducted in Mopti, Mali, on 7–15 February 2012 despite the cancellation of Flintlock 12. The joint-aerial-delivery exercise, hosted by U.S. Army Africa, brought together Army personnel with African armed forces to enhance air drop capabilities and ensure effective delivery of military resupply materials and humanitarian aid.[10]
    • Atlas Eagle – in 2009 described as "Train forces capable of conducting joint and combined U.S., air, and land combat interoperability operations."[8]
    • Atlas Drop – from 1997 to 2003, U.S.-Tunisian exercise[24]
    • Atlas Response – response to Mozambique floods of 2001
    • Atlas Vision – peacekeeping exercise with Russia. Atlas Vision 2012 appears to have been the first of a series, according to commentators at Small Wars Journal. Atlas Vision 2013 took place in Germany. U.S. European Command had been in the planning stages for Atlas Vision 2014, which was to take place in July in Chelyabinsk (Chelyabinsk Oblast), and focus on joint peace-keeping operations. Because of the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, “all planning for this exercise has been suspended.”[25]
  • Attain Document – in 1986, the US Navy began several "Freedom of Navigation" operations in the area around Libya, the first two parts of the operation being held from January 26–30, and February 12–15 without incident. The third part began on 23 March 1986 and led to the Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986).
  • Operation Attleboro – U.S. and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) air mobile operations in Tây Ninh
  • Operation Auburn Endeavor 1998 – relocation of uranium fuel from Tbilisi, Georgia.[26]
  • Exercise Austere Challenge – October 2012 US-Israel military exercise (missile defense). Austere Challenge '15 was a warfighting exercise conducted across several locations in the U.S. European Command area,[27] which involved participation by the 1 (German/Netherlands) Corps.
  • Austere Strike – U.S. Air Force system utilizing an electro-optical seeker and tracker for acquisition and tracking missions flown by McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II aircraft.[28]
  • Autumn Forge – A series of NATO exercises conducted each year in Allied Command Europe (ACE) during the Cold War. It began in 1975 linking a number of training exercises under a common scenario, to present a more potent public image.[29] Autumn Forge 83.
  • Operation Autumn Return – non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO) in Côte d'Ivoire, September–October 2002.
  • Operation Avid Recovery – U.S. European Command activities with Nigerian and British service personnel in clearing unexploded ordnance left over after the 2002 Lagos armoury explosion at Ikeja Cantonment, Lagos, on 27 January 2002. U.S. Explosive Ordnance Disposal soldiers helped to "stabilize" the cantonment area, as well as "providing safety training to the public and special ordnance handling training" for Nigerian Armed Forces personnel.[30]
  • Joint Task Force Aztec Silence – European Command "established Joint Task Force Aztec Silence under the Commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet in December 2003 to counter transnational terrorism in the under-governed areas of Northern Africa and to build closer alliances with those governments. In support of this, U.S. Navy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets Lockheed P-3 Orions based in Sigonella, Sicily were used to collect and share information with U.S. [partners] and their militaries. This robust cooperative ISR effort was augmented by the release of intelligence collected by national assets."[31]

B

  • Baby Bonnet – Operation during the Cuban Missile Crisis by RB-47 Stratojets of the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing to locate the Soviet tanker Grozny, operating from Lajes Air Base[32]
  • Operation Babylift – Mass evacuation/airlift of orphans from South Vietnam to the U.S. and other countries
  • Balikatan – Joint exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, numbered by year.[33] Includes Balikatan 2025.
  • Baker Blade – Classified exercise.
  • Baker Mint – Exercise conducted by the US Army and Malaysia
  • * Baker Mint 99-1 – Conducted by the US Army and Malaysia in 1999. Trained on military intelligence and photo-surveillance.
  • * Baker Mint Lens 99 – Conducted by the US Army and Malaysia in 1999
  • Baker Mondial V – Exercise conducted by the US Army and Mongolia in 1997. Trained on medical procedures.
  • Baker Mongoose II – Conducted by the US Army and Mongolia in 1995.
  • Baker Piston Lens 2000 – Conducted by the US Army and the Philippines in 2000.
  • Baker Tepid – A series of eight exercises conducted by the US Army and Thailand.
  • Baker Torch – A series of three exercises conducted by the US Army and Thailand from 1999 to 2001. Trained on border control.
    • Baker Torch Lens – Conducted by the US Army and Thailand. Trained on diving.
  • Bamboo Eagle - exercise practicing air warfare against the People's Republic of China in a degraded environment. The exercise “… replicated the challenges of conducting long-range missions in the Indo-Pacific, including how we integrate aircraft and other systems across all domains,” providing aviators with a “highly complex and realistic training opportunity.” As part of the Agile Combat Employment concept, teams operated from hub-and-spoke locations, including across California, Hawaii, and Guam. Began 2024.[34]
  • Banner – First word for withdrawal of USAF units from Thailand in extension of Keystone operations.
    • Banner Star – Inactivation of 43d Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron, 556th Civil Engineering Squadron (Heavy Repair), 609th Special Operations Squadron, discontinuance of F-102 detachment at Udorn and movement of planes to Clark Air Base, consolidating F-105s at Takhli, reduction of C-121s of 553d Reconnaissance Wing by one third.[35]
    • Banner Sun – Ended USAF activities at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base; inactivated 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, moved F-105s to Kadena Air Base, moved one squadron of Wild Weasel aircraft to Korat, reduced 553d Reconnaissance Wing to a squadron, moved 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron to United States, discontinued F-102 detachment at Don Muang and movement of planes to Clark Air Base.[36]
  • Bar None – Strategic Air Command exercise to test operational effectiveness of a wing. Name replaced by Buy None.
  • Operation Barrel Roll – Air interdiction in northern and central Laos against Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese Army forces[5]
  • Operation Bat Cat – EC-121R electronic surveillance of the Ho Chi Minh Trail[5]
  • Exercise Battle Griffin – amphibious exercise practicing reception, staging, and operation of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force in defense of Northern Norway. Also involved UK, Netherlands. In 1991 Exercise Battle Griffin took place in February–March. That year the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade made the first test of the Norway Air-Landed Marine Expeditionary Brigade plan. It was composed completely of Marine Corps Reserve units as Operation Desert Storm was getting under way. The force comprised HQ Company 25th Marines, 3/25 Marines, Co E, 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, and 1st Battalion, 14th Marines (artillery, composed of HQ, Alpha, and Bravo Batteries).[37] Battle Griffin 93; Battle Griffin 96.[38]
  • Beacon Flash – U.S.-Oman dissimilar air combat exercise going back to the 1970s.[38] Carrier Air Wing 1 flying from USS America (CV-66) carried out at least two Beacon Flash exercises in the first half of 1983 (Command History 1983).
  • Beggar Shadow - late-1960s U.S. Navy reconnaissance program that collected intelligence about and communications between Soviet Bloc states while remaining safely (at least according to international laws) in international waters. The EC-121 shot down by North Korea in 1969 was on a "Beggar Shadow" mission.
  • Bell Tone – US Air Force air defense detachment at Don Muang Air Base from 1961[5]
  • Bent Spear - A Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff term identifying and reporting a significant nuclear weapon incident involving a nuclear weapon or warhead, nuclear components, or vehicle when nuclear

loaded. This term includes a significant incident as defined in DoD Directive 5100.52.[39]

identify and report an accident involving a nuclear weapon or warhead or nuclear component.[53]

  • Busy Plotter – Program to increase proficiency of Strategic Air Command navigators by training them using Air Training Command Boeing T-43 aircraft, rather than the more expensive B-52s, due to high fuel costs from 1979 to October 1981.[62]
  • Busy Sentry – Strategic Air Command exercise for intercontinental ballistic missile units.
  • Busy Sentry II – Strategic Air Command Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP) 4D missile training assistance program
  • Busy Player – Exercise which included participation of 40th Air Division (in 1951–89 period).[54]
  • Busy Usher – Strategic Air Command launch of No. 13 LF-02 missile MK-1 Minuteman-II
  • Button Up – Strategic Air Command security system reset procedures used during Minuteman facility wind down
  • Buy None – Strategic Air Command exercise to test operational effectiveness of wings. Name replaced Bar None. Included participation of 40th Air Division in 1951–89 period.[54]

C

Arkin lists Constant subprograms included Constant Blue (Presidential successor helicopter evacuation plan), Constant Gate, Constant Help, Constant Phoenix (55th Wing nuclear monitoring) Constant Pisces, Constant Shotgun, Constant Source, Constant Spur, Constant Star, Constant Stare (an Air Intelligence Agency organization).[100][101]
  • Project Constant Growth – From October 1975 to July 1976 name of program to give copilots of heavy airlift and bombardment aircraft experience by flying smaller training aircraft. Nickname dropped and program retitled Accelerated Copilot Enrichment.[102]
  • Operation Constant Guard – Deployment of tactical aircraft to Southeast Asia in response to the 1972 Easter Offensive[5]
  • Constant Peg – evaluation of clandestinely-acquired Soviet fighter aircraft at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, by 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron. The idea of a more realistic training program for the Air Force was devised by USAF Colonel Gail Peck, a Vietnam veteran F-4 pilot, who was dissatisfied with his service's fighter pilot training. After the war, he worked at the Department of Defense, where he heard about the Have Drill and Have Doughnut programs. He won the support of USAF General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Jr. and launched "Constant Peg," named after Vandenberg's callsign, "Constant," and Peck's wife, Peg.[103]
  • Operation Continuing Promise – periodic series of US military exercises conducted under the direction of United States Southern Command. Designated by Roman numeral (“Continuing Promise I” was in 2007), or by year (“Continuing Promise 2009”); they provide medical, dental and veterinary aid to people in Latin America.[104]
  • Operation Cool Shoot – live missile firing exercise, held at Tyndall AFB, Florida, with participation of 21st Composite Wing, Alaskan Air Command.
  • Exercise Cope North – an annual multinational military exercise taking place in and around Guam.[105] The first exercise took place in 1978.[106]
  • Exercise Cope Thunder – A Pacific Air Forces (PACAF)-sponsored exercise initiated in 1976, Cope Thunder was devised as a way to give aircrews their first taste of warfare and quickly grew into PACAF's "premier simulated combat airpower employment exercise."[107] Moved from Clark Air Base to Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska in 1992, permanently, after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo.
  • Exercise Cope Tiger – USAF exercise in Thailand
  • Copper Dune – Joint Special Operations Command strike operations in Yemen/Arabian Peninsula, 2011–2012.[108]
  • Project Cornrose – Study of the use of nuclear weapons to destroy dams and harbor infrastructure[109]
  • Corona South – the 72nd Bombardment Wing at Ramey Air Force Base in Puerto Rico hosted the annual United States Air Force Commander's Conferences, code named Corona South, which began on an irregular basis in 1955. By the 1960s, Corona South had become a regular annual event at Ramey. It continued until the wing was inactivated. Military Airlift Command then continued them until Ramey closed and they were transferred to Homestead Air Force Base, Florida.[110]
  • Coronet Bare – 1969 demonstration of "bare base" concept of deployment.[111]
  • Coronet Cobra – Deployment of Coronet Solo EC-121s to Korat Royal Thai Air Base.[88]
  • Coronet Giant – Direct flight from the United States to West Germany by 12 Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II attack fighters, refuelled along the way by three KC-135s of the 126th Air Refueling Squadron Wisconsin Air National Guard, spring of 1984. The route spanned 3600 miles, and was the largest mission of this type undertaken by a National Guard force to date.
  • Coronet Nighthawk – Operation Coronet Nighthawk was a Caribbean deployment of Air Force fighters.
  • Coronet Oak – the continuing operation in which Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and Air National Guard (ANG) C-130 aircraft, aircrews and related support personnel deploy from the United States to Muñiz Air National Guard Base, Puerto Rico, to provide air transport for the U.S. Southern Command. The mission moved from Howard Air Force Base, Panama, as a result of the DOD withdrawal from Panama, from April 1999. Units rotate in and out of Muñiz ANGB every two weeks. Forces assigned to Coronet Oak provide United States Southern Command with logistic and contingency support throughout Central and South America.[112] The mission typically covers embassy resupply, medical evacuations, and support of U.S. troops and/or the Drug Enforcement Administration.
  • Coronet Solo – EC-121Ss modified for psychological warfare to broadcast radio and TV with electronic warfare capability. Renamed Volant Solo with introduction of EC-130Es.[113]
  • Crazy Hawk – Airborne Reconnaissance Low Multifunction airplane based on the DHC-7 (military designation RC-7, then RO-5C, EO-5C)
  • Creek – USAFE first word
    • Creek Action – Command-wide effort by Hq USAFE to realign functions and streamline operations, 1973[114]
    • Creek Caste – intelligence program/project
    • Creek Claw – intelligence program/project
    • Creek Defender - USAFE-AFAFRICA's only Ground Combat Readiness Training Center for deploying SF members.
    • Creek Fury – reconnaissance over East Germany / East Berlin using C-130E aircraft.[115][116]
    • Creek Flush – Photo and ELINT intelligence program/project (circa 1975+)
    • Creek Klaxon – In 1986, the 119th Fighter-Interceptor Group (ND ARNG) assumed the USAF Zulu alert mission at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany. The 119th and other Reserve Component Air Defense units rotated to Ramstein and stood continuous air sovereignty alert for one year, provided for NATO.
    • Creek Party – Deployment of Air National Guard Boeing KC-97 tankers to Europe to support United States Air Forces Europe operations.
    • Creek Sand - under this codename, "dozens of U.S. personnel and contractors have come to Ouagadougou in recent years to establish a small air base on the military side of the international airport." "At the heart of the surveillance operations are small, unarmed turboprop aircraft disguised as private planes. Equipped with hidden sensors that can record full-motion video, track infrared heat patterns, and vacuum up radio and cellphone signals, the planes refuel on isolated airstrips.. extending their effective flight range by thousands of miles."[117]
    • Creek Victor – intelligence program/project (circa 1980)
    • Creek Wind - U-2 eastern Mediterranean reconnaissance missions which supported Operation Enduring Freedom.[118]
  • Operation Crescent Wind – initial air attack against Taliban/Al Qaeda in Afghanistan after the September 11 terrorist attacks, from 7 October 2001.

D

  • Dacian Star – Combined exercise with the Romanian Air Force, name is followed by year of exercise.
  • Operation Dawn Blitz – Post 2010 amphibious exercise with foreign participation
  • Exercise Dawn Patrol – A five-nation NATO naval and air exercise conducted throughout the Mediterranean in 1974.[119] The U.S. contribution to the exercise was based on the USS America (CV-66) carrier battle group.
  • Operation Deep Freeze Annual resupply operations for American scientific sites in Antarctica.
  • Exercise Deep Furrow – 1960s-1970s Allied Forces Southern Europe exercise practicing the defense of Greece and Turkey.[120]
  • Deep Siren – Raytheon/RRK/Ultra Electronics Maritime Systems expendable "long-range acoustic tactical pager", launched via sub/surface/air-launched buoy (Jane's Defence Weekly (JDW) 21 Nov 2007).
  • Operation Deliberate Force 1995 – NATO air strikes on Bosnian Serb military forces.
  • Operation Deliberate Forge – The air phase of Operation Joint Forge, continuing operations in Bosnia-Herzogovina.[121]
  • Operation Deliberate Guard – The air phase of Operation Joint Guard, enforcing peacekeeping operations in Bosnia-Herzogovina.[121]
  • Demon Ape – From an acronym for Demonstration of Autonomous Collaborative Platform Performance and Effectiveness, part of the Collaberative Combat Aircraft program, including use of General Atomics XQ-67A remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs).[122]
  • Operation Deny Flight 1993–1995 – U.S./NATO enforcement of no-fly zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina.[123]
  • Operation Desert – various
  • Destined Glory – Cold War NATO naval exercise, Mediterranean. Also held May 1995, 7–20 April 1997 - DG 97, and 5–22 May 1998.[126] Also tested Multinational Amphibious Task Force concept, previous designated CAFMED until late 1999.
  • Operation Determined Falcon 1998 – 80-aircraft NATO show of force over Albania near Kosovo.[127]
  • Operation Determined Forge – maritime component of Operation Joint Force (SFOR II).[128][129]
  • Operation Determined Guard – the first naval activity associated with Operation Joint Guard (the Stabilization Force (invariably known as "S-For") in Bosnia-Herzegovina).[128][130]
  • Determined Promise-03 (DP-03) was a two-week, multi-level exercise which started on August 18, 2002, with a simulated outbreak of pneumonic plague in Nevada, adding a hurricane, an air threat in Alaska, and a train wreck in Kentucky to the list of 1,700 'injects' that would crop up during the exercise. DP-03 was intended as the final testing event before the declaration of Full Operational Capability for U.S. Northern Command, with DHS and a total of 34 federal agencies represented.[131]
  • Dial Flower – code name concerned with the monitoring of French nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll, French Polynesia, 1972 and 1973.[132]
  • Project Dragon Lady – initial purchase of 31 Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft by the United States Air Force
  • Operation Dragon Rouge – Airlift of Belgian troops to evacuate civilians during rebellion in the Congo, 1964.[133]
  • Dragon Spear - designation for Lockheed MC-130W
  • Operation Dragoon Ride
  • Project Drill Press – Modification of a Douglas C-47 Skytrain with airborne radio direction finding equipment. A predecessor of Project Phyllis Ann, although the single Drill Press aircraft had more sophisticated electronics.[134]
  • Dust Hardness – A modification improvement to Minuteman-III approved for service use in 1972

E

Thumb
Somali troops passing in review during an Exercise Eastern Wind '83 ceremony
  • Operation Eastern Exit – evacuation of the United States Ambassador to Somalia and Embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1991.
  • Eastern Sentry - after the 2025 Russian drone incursion into Poland, on 12 September 2025, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced that action to protect the alliance eastern borders would begin in the following days, involving military forces from Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and others.
  • Exercise Eastern Wind – exercises with Somali National Army, 1980s. Held 1983 as amphibious component of Bright Star, including the deployment of VMFA(AW)-242 flying Grumman A-6 Intruders to Berbera. The exercise "failed dismally"; "The Somali army did not perform up to any standard," one diplomat said. ..The inefficiency of the Somali armed forces is legendary among foreign military men."[142][143] The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit participated in Eastern Wind in August 1987 in the area of Geesalay.[144] At sea USS Spiegel Grove, USS Saginaw (LST-1188), and USS La Moure County (LST-1194) took part as Amphibious Squadron 32/Commander Task Unit 76.8.2 from 2–9 August 1987.[145]
  • Eastern Venture – reported Warning Order issued for airlift support to famine relief operations in Sudan, covered by CENTCOM Command History 1985, page 30 (via www3.centcom.mil/FOIALibrary).
  • Echo Casemate – Support of French and African peacekeeping forces in the Central African Republic.[20]
  • Operation El Dorado Canyon 1986 – USAF and USN air strikes on Libya in retaliation for terrorist bombing of La Belle Disco in West Berlin.[146]
  • Exercises Elder Forest, Elder Joust, were former NATO air defence exercises in the UK.[147]
  • Empty Quiver - refers to the seizure, theft, or loss of a functioning nuclear weapon.[39]
  • Operation Enduring Freedom – Anti-Al Qaeda operations in Afghanistan, including United States invasion of Afghanistan, War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), and other subsequent anti-terrorist operations.
  • Operations Enhance and Enhance Plus in the Vietnam War transferred large quantities of United States military equipment and bases to the South Vietnamese government in advance of the Paris Peace Accords which ended American involvement in the war. The two operations were conducted between May and December 1972.
  • Operation Essential Harvest 2001 – Successful NATO program to disarm National Liberation Army (NLA) in Macedonia.
  • Exercise Evening Star is the annual test of the emergency response routines to a nuclear weapon accident at Faslane, HMNB Clyde. It is conducted by the Office for Nuclear Regulation. In 2011 the test failed as "a number of command and control aspects of the exercise were not considered to have been adequately demonstrated".[148]
  • Even Steven - in August 1970, two U-2Rs were deployed by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to cover the Israeli-Egypt conflict.[149]
  • Exploring Sword – designation used for training exercises for I German/Dutch Corps
  • Exile Hunter – Training of Ethiopian forces for operations in Somalia[20]

F

  • Faded Giant – An event involving a military nuclear reactor or other radiological accident not involving nuclear weapons,[39] such as the SL-1 reactor explosion.
  • Falling Leaves – improvised ballistic missile warning network created by the USAF during the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962.
  • Family Man – Continuation of College Men.[80]
  • Fan Song – NATO name for radar associated with Soviet SA-2 Guideline missiles[5]
  • Operation Farm Gate – 1961 deployment and subsequent operations in Vietnam of North American T-28 Trojan and Douglas B-26 Invader aircraft operated by the 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron, officially to train South Vietnamese Air Force personnel[5]
  • Fast Race – Relocation of communications equipment from France following its withdrawal from the NATO Military Command Structure in the 1960s.[150]
  • Fast Talk – Strategic Air Command single side band high frequency radio net for command and control in the event of landline failure[32]
  • Exercise Fearless Guardian 2015 – U.S./Ukrainian training exercise. (total 2,200 participants, including 1,000 U.S. military). Initial personnel and equipment of the 173rd Airborne Brigade arrived in Yavoriv, Lviv Oblast, on 10 April 2015. Under the program, the United States trained three battalions of newly formed Ukrainian National Guard troops over a six-month period beginning in April 2015 under the Congress-approved Global Contingency Security Fund.[151]
  • Fervent Archer – European Command directed Joint Special Operations Command task force in Sarajevo from 2001. Believed to be a continuation of 'Amber Star' (see above).[152]
  • Field Goal – US Air Force top-secret RT-33A reconnaissance aircraft flights over Southeast Asia confirming communist activity in South Vietnam and Laos[4]
  • Fiery Vigil - evacuation of military and dependents from Clark Air Base in 1991 after the Eruption of Mount Pinatubo
  • Fincastle Trophy – An antisubmarine warfare contest between the air forces of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. During the competition, crews compete in antisubmarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and intelligence gathering, and surveillance.
  • Operation Flaming Dart – US air raids on North Vietnam on 7 and 11 February 1965 in response to Viet Cong attacks on American bases in South Vietnam[5]
  • Flexible Anvil/Sky Anvil 1998 – Planning for Balkan/Kosovo operations by ComSixthFleet to plan and be prepared to execute a limited strike option using YTLAM and CALCM missiles;[153]Captain J. Stephen Hoefel (May 16, 2000). "U.S. Joint Task Forces in the Kosovo Conflict" (PDF). pp. ii, 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 3, 2021.,[154]
  • Operation Fluid Drive – evacuation of noncombatants from Lebanon, 1980s
  • Operation Focus Relief – the movement and support of West African troops intended for dispatch to the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).
  • Formidable Shield – seaborne Anti-Ballistic Missile exercise using NATO Military Command Structure to direct ships. Formidable Shield 2019 utilized Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO in northern UK waters.
  • Fox Able – Transatlantic deployment of jet fighter aircraft.
  • Fox Peter—Transpacific deployment of jet fighter aircraft.
  • Operation Fracture Cross Alpha – Operation to prevent North Vietnamese interference with air operations supporting Operation Lam Son 719.[55]
  • Operation Fracture Deep – Plan to strike Vietnam People's Air Force bases south of 20th parallel. Combined with Operation Proud Bunch as Operation Proud Deep.[55]
  • Fracture Jaw - Commander U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam sought to ensure that nuclear weapons would be available for use in Vietnam in January 1968. Planning began to move nuclear weapons into South Vietnam so that they could be used on short notice against North Vietnamese troops.[157][158] The project was abandoned in February 1968 after statements by Eugene McCarthy and others claimed that the U.S. was preparing to use nuclear weapons in Vietnam.[157]
  • Exercise Freedom Banner – Ann annual United States Marine Corps exercise is performed with rotating partner countries throughout the Pacific Rim.
  • Operation Freedom Deal – Air interdiction and close air support strikes in Cambodia, 1970–1973.
  • Operation Freedom Eagle – Part of Operation Enduring Freedom conducted in the Philippines
  • Operation Freedom Falcon – 2011 military intervention in Libya
  • Operation Freedom Sentinel (or Freedom's Sentinel) – Post 2015 operations in Afghanistan
  • Exercise Freedom Shield – A Joint and Combined exercise in March 2025 in involving F-35s from the US Air Force, US Navy and Korean Air Force[159]
  • Freedom Torch II - Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) directed and coordinated exercise (source Parsch).
  • Operation Freedom Train – Original name for Operation Linebacker I
  • Freedom Vault - exercise held in March 1971 in South Korea to demonstrate the capability to deploy U.S. Strike Command units to an overseas area rapidly (source Parsch).
  • Operation FRELOC (FRELOC=French Relocation) – Relocation of units and equipment from France following its withdrawal from the NATO Military Command Structure in the 1960s.
  • Operation Frequent Wind – Evacuation of civilians from Saigon in April 1975.[160]
  • Operation Fresh Approach – Test of proposed Strategic Air Command aircraft ground alert at Mountain Home Air Force Base in September 1957, intended to solve problems identified during Operations Try Out and Watch Tower.[161]

G

  • Gallant Hand – A large scale joint warfare training exercise held in 1972 at Fort Hood in which 23,000 soldiers and airmen participated.[28]
  • Gallant Journey 05 – Arkin write that this exercise was a "..Classified intelligence or special operations" activity held in March 2005, with DIA, NAS and CIA/OMA involvement.[162]
  • Gallant Knight – A command post exercise of the Rapid Deployment Force.[28]
  • Gallant Shield – Joint Chiefs of Staff directed and coordinated exercise.[28]
  • Operation Game Warden – 1965 first major U.S. riverine patrol operation in the Vietnam War
  • Operation Garden Plot – General US Army and US National Guard plan to respond to major domestic civil disorder within the United States
  • Gate Keeper – a special access program which provides clandestine support associated with State Department Foreign Emergency Support Team missions and classified special operations and intelligence missions.[163][164][165] Authority appears to rest in part with United States Special Operations Command. The 45-seat Boeing C-32B Gatekeeper flies transport missions under this program.[166]
  • Giant Dragon – Replaced Trojan Horse as the name for SAC U-2 operations in Southeast Asia on 1 July 1967. Became Giant Nail in July 1969.[167]
  • Giant Nail – Replaced Giant Dragon as name for U-2 operations in Southeast Asia in July 1969.[168]
  • Exercise Giant Pace – A series of "Simulated Electronic Launch-Minuteman" exercises to test launch on command of Minuteman missiles by launch control centers or the Airborne Launch Control System[56]
  • Giant Patriot – "Operational Base Launch Safety System" program of test flights of Minuteman II missiles. The system was internally mounted on the missile and permitted ground controllers to destroy the missile if it deviated from its programmed flight path.[169] The program was terminated by Congress in July 1974
  • Giant Plow – a United States Air Force Minuteman launcher closure test program
  • Giant Profit – "Modified Operational Missile Test" of Minuteman missiles designed to test all Minuteman launch procedures except actual launch to ascertain the Minuteman launch reliability.[170]
  • Giant Scale – SR-71 reconnaissance missions over Southeast Asia 1969[55]
  • “Giant Voice” - SAC Deputy Commander Major General Clements M.

McMullen announced in May 1948 this competition, conducted for the express purpose of reinforcing training. That first event consisted of crews dropping three bombs visually and three by radar from an altitude of about 25,000 feet. Renamed Proud Shield in 1987.

H

I

J

K

  • Exercise Keen Edge/Keen Sword – U.S./Japan defense of Japan exercise. Every two years, the US and Japan hold the Keen Sword exercise, the biggest military exercise around Japan. Japan, the United States and since 2024, Australia, participate, with Canada playing a smaller role.[213]
  • Key Hole – National Reconnaissance Office programs for GEOINT imagery intelligence
  • Keystone – Overall name for withdrawal of US forces from Vietnam (see also Banner)
    • Keystone Bluejay – (Increment III) Withdrawal of 50,000 troops by 15 April 1970. Movement of 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron to Misawa Air Base and inactivation of 557th, 558th and 559th Tactical Fighter Squadrons.[214]
    • Keystone Cardinal – (Increment II) Reduction of troop ceiling to 484,000 by 15 December 1969. Movement of U-10 and C-47 aircraft of 5th Special Operations Squadron to Korea.[215]
    • Keystone Eagle – (Increment I) Reduction of troop ceiling to 534,500 in August 1969[215]
    • Keystone Oriole Alpha – (Increment VII) Reduction of 100,000 by 1 December 1970[216]
    • Keystone Robin Alpha – (Increments IV) reductions of 50,000 by 15 April 1971. 31st Tactical Fighter Wing moved to United States, 531st Tactical Fighter Squadron inactivated and planes returned to the United States, A-37s of the 8th and 90th Special Operations Squadrons turned over to the Vietnamese Air Force.[217]
    • Keystone Robin Bravo – (Increment V) reductions of 40,000 by 15 April 1971. Return of 45th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron planes to the United States.[217]
    • Keystone Robin Charlie – (Increment VI) 3 reductions of 50,000/ 40,000/ 60,000 by 15 April 1971[218]
  • Operation Kingpin – Final clandestine phase of US Special Forces' Operation Ivory Coast rescue of United States prisoners of war during the Vietnam War
  • Kodiak Hunter – Training of Kenyan forces for operations in Somalia[20]

L

  • Latent Arrow - one of the code names for a unit who carries out the U.S. Army's fixed-wing and rotary "covered air" mission, which involved moving personnel and materiel under civilian cover.[219] Better known as SEASPRAY; now seemingly named Aviation Technology Office.
  • Left Hook – Deployment of Long Arm RB-47H and Ryan 147D drones to the Philippines. The drones were to locate SA-2 surface to air missile sites, which would then be attacked by fighter aircraft. Two drone launches in August 1965 were both shot down by ground fire. The project was abandoned and resources rolled into United Effort.[193]
  • Lightning Bug – Big Safari program to modify Ryan BQM-34 Firebee target drones to Model 147 Firefly special purpose drones.[193]
  • Limp Banana - sensitive White House Military Office emergency medical diagnosis activity, relating to very senior civilian staff, which began on January 19, 2025.
  • Link Plumeria - special access program code name which includes funding for the Navy F/A-XX fighter project.[220]
  • Lone Eagle – Design of longer range reconnaissance drone starting in 1966. Renamed Compass Arrow[91]
  • Long Arm – Project to fly Ryan 147 drones near SA-2 surface to air missile sites, transmitting ELINT to nearby Boeing RB-47H aircraft nearby, but out of range of the missiles. Planned for operation over Cuba in December 1962, but not deployed. Tested in 1965 with Ryan 147D drones. Deployed as Left Hook.[193]
  • Long Skip – Support for India in border dispute with China in Kashmir, 1962–1963[221]
  • Long Life – launch of LGM-30 Minuteman from 'live' launch facility with seven seconds of fuel.
  • Exercise Long Look – long-established individual exchange program between Commonwealth armies. For example, Captain Katie Hildred, Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps, was dispatched on Exercise Long Look in New Zealand in 2017, a four-month program that was planned to see her deploy on various exercises and training packages with the New Zealand Army.[222]
  • Operation Looking Glass – U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) then U.S. Strategic Command survivable airborne command post. The name came from the aircraft's ability to "mirror" the command and control functions of the underground command post at SAC headquarters. Began 1961.
  • Operation Louisville Slugger – 1971 RF-4C Phantom II reconnaissance north of the DMZ to locate North Vietnam Fan Song radar sites.[55]
  • Project Low Card – Use of U-2D aircraft to support the Missile Detection and Alarm System (MIDAS) satellite development by testing sensors to monitor exhaust plumes from missiles launched from Cape Canaveral for future use on satellites. Renamed Project Smokey Joe.[94]
  • Lucky Dragon – U-2E photographic reconnaissance missions flown from Clark Air Base, then from Bien Hoa Air Base over North Viet Nam, starting 14 February 1964. The missions provided intelligence for Military Assistance Command Vietnam and Pacific Command, and later included SIGINT. Renamed Trojan Horse in December 1964.[223]
  • Lucky – ARCENT firstword/call sign[224]
    • Lucky Sentinel – ARCENT combined multi-national and joint service forces command post exercise to train/sustain battle staff in the Gulf region.[225][226]
    • Lucky Strike – ARCENT exercise consiting of field training, battle staff readiness, fire team missions and crisis response for contingency command post preparation for rapid deployment[227]
    • Lucky Warrior – Exercise testing ARCENT's capabilties to receive, interpret, disseminate, and respond to information using Army Battle Field Command System (ABCS) components proving Joint Task Force (JTF) headquarters' capability to lead.[228][229]

M

N

  • Project Native Son – 1950s Air Force project to reduce costs by employing foreign nationals at overseas bases to replace military personnel.[238]
  • Exercise Natural Fire – East Africa
  • Neon – U.S./Bahrain first word
    • Neon Response
    • Neon Spark – U.S./Bahrain naval exercise series, including the UK. Neon Spark 98.
  • Neon Spear – Disaster response symposium with Eastern African countries
  • Operation Neptune Spear – US Navy SEALs operation that killed Osama bin Laden
  • New Normal – Development of rapid response capability in Africa[20]
  • New Tape – Airlift support for UN operations and humanitarian airlift in Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) 1960–1964[239]
  • Nice Dog – code name concerned with the monitoring of French nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll, French Polynesia, 1972 and 1973.[132]
  • Operation Nickel Grass 1973 – Support of Israel during the 1973 October War.[240]
  • Exercise Nifty Nugget – A 1978 transportation plans exercise, exposed great gaps in understanding between military and civilian participants: mobilization and deployment plans fell apart, and as a result, the United States and its NATO allies "lost the war". Estimated "400,000 troop 'casualties,' and thousands of tons of supplies and 200,000 to 500,000 trained combat troops would not have arrived at the identified conflict scene on time."[241] "Two major recommendations came out of Nifty Nugget: a direct line of command between the transportation agencies and the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and the creation of an agency responsible for deployments.[242] This agency was to be established as the Joint Deployment Agency, a forerunner to United States Transportation Command.
  • Operation Nifty Package – A United States Delta Force and Navy SEAL-operated plan conducted in December 1989 designed to capture Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega. It unfolded as part of the wider Operation Just Cause. When Noriega took refuge in the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See (diplomatic quarter), deafening music and other psychological warfare tactics were used to convince him to exit and surrender himself.[243]
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Wreck of abandoned ex-Iranian F-4E at Tallil Air Base, Iraq, 1991, investigated during Operation Night Harvest

O

  • Operation Oaken Sonnet
    • Oaken Sonnet I – 2013 rescue of United States personnel from South Sudan during its civil war[20]
    • Oaken Sonnet II – 2014 operation in South Sudan[20]
    • Oaken Sonnet III – 2016 operation in South Sudan[20]
  • Oaken Steel – July 2016 to January 2017 deployment to Uganda and reinforcement of security forces at US embassy in South Sudan.
  • Objective Voice – Information operations and psychological warfare in Africa[20]
  • Oblique Pillar – private contractor helicopter support to U.S. Navy SEAL-advised units of the Somali National Army fighting al-Shabaab in Somalia. The operation was in existence as of February 2018. Bases used included Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti; Mombasa and Wajir, Kenya; Baidoa, Baledogle, Kismayo and Mogadishu, Somalia; Entebbe, Uganda.[20]
  • Old Fox – Minuteman III flight tests by the United States Air Force
  • Operation Observant Compass – initially attempts to kill Joseph Kony and eradicate the Lord's Liberation Army. In 2017, with around $780 million spent on the operation, and Kony still in the field, the United States wound down Observant Compass and shifted its forces elsewhere. But the operation didn't completely disband, according to the Defense Department: “forces supporting Operation Observant Compass transitioned to broader.. security and stability activities that continue the success of our African partners."[20][255]
  • Obsidian Lotus – Training Libyan special operations units[20]
  • Obsidian Mosaic – Operation in Mali.[20]
  • Obsidian Nomad I – Counterterrorism operation in Diffa, Niger[20]
  • Obsidian Nomad II – Counterterrorism operation in Arlit, Niger[20]
  • Octave Anchor – Psychological warfare operations focused on Somalia.[20]
  • Octave Fusion - Navy SEAL-led operation in Somalia that rescued an American and a Danish hostage on January 24, 2012.[256]
  • Octave Shield – operation by Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa.[20]
  • Octave Soundstage – Psychological warfare operations focused on Somalia.[20]
  • Octave Stingray – Psychological warfare operations focused on Somalia.[20]
  • Octave Summit – Psychological warfare operations focused on Somalia.[20]
  • Operation Odyssey Dawn – air campaign against Libya, 2011.
  • Odyssey Lightning – Airstrikes on Sirte, Libya.[20] It was launched on August 1, 2016, to support the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in expelling the Islamic State (ISIS) from Sirte. The operation involved 495 airstrikes and concluded in December 2016 after the GNA announced the removal of the last IS opposition from Sirte, though U.S. operations against ISIS continued elsewhere in Libya.
  • Odyssey Resolve – Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance operations in area of Sirte, Libya.[20]
  • Oil Burner – Strategic Air Command low level bomber training. Replaced by Olive Branch.
  • Old Bar – Telemetry checks of the Ryan 147G flown with EB-47H October to November 1966 from Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam. Operational missions against SA-2 sites may have also been flown.[257]
  • Olive Branch – Strategic Air Command low level bomber training. Replaced Oil Burner. Name later dropped and training areas called Instrument Routes or Visual Routes. Appears to have been reused 1993-94 to describe U-2 reconnaissance missions over Iraq.
  • Olive Farm - Parsch writes that this is a U-2 contingency operation. GS.org says it may have been Middle East in the 1970s.
  • Olympic Defender – "U.S. space war plan", to be first shared with unspecified allies after a new version of the plan was promulgated in December 2018.[258]
  • Olympic Arena III – Strategic Air Command missile competition of all nine operational missile units
  • Olympic Event – A Minuteman III nuclear operational systems test
  • Olympic Fire - U-2 reconnaissance over Cuba, later "R" models from Patrick AFB, FL.[149]
  • Olympic Flame, Olympic Flare – associated with 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing Lockheed U-2 operations.
  • Olympic Game - U-2 reconnaissance on North Korea, 1990s
  • Operation Olympic Games - cyberattacks against Iran
  • Olympic Harvest - U-2R reconnaissance from Akrotiri
  • Olympic Play – A Strategic Air Command missiles and operational ground equipment program for EWO missions
  • Olympic Torch – U-2R COMINT system in Southeast Asia, renamed from Senior Book on 11 April 1972.[259]
  • Olympic Trials – A program to represent a series of launches having common objectives
  • During 1985 and 1986, in Operation "Onaway Eagle", the 76th Infantry Division successfully defined, established and executed the first United States Army Reserve mobilization army training center at Fort Campbell, Kentucky which became the model for utilization and employment of other Army reserve training divisions. During Operation Onaway Eagle, elements of the division successfully conducted Basic Combat Training for hundreds of new soldiers.
  • Project One Side – Operational test and evaluation of AN/ARC-65 airborne HF Single-sideband (SSB) radio[260]
  • Exercise Open Gate – NATO air/naval exercise in the Mediterranean, late 1970s. 1979 iteration included No. 12 Squadron RAF deployment from Honington to RAF Gibraltar, carrying out the low-level anti-shipping mission.[261][262]
  • Open Spirit, Open Road - NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) seminar Norfolk, VA;, In the Spirit of (ISO) PfP Mine Countermeasures (MCM) exercise and symposium.[263]
  • Orient Express - U.S. efforts to deny UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali reelection
  • Exercise Orient Shield – United States Army/JGSDF annual exercise
  • Operation Ortsac – US military plan and mock invasion exercise on Vieques to overthrow a ficitious leader called "Ortsac" ("Castro" backwards) in August 1962.

P

Q

  • Quick Fox – Electronic intelligence missions flown from MacDill Air Force Base, Florida near Cuba by C-130s under Strategic Air Command control until November 1962, then transferred to Tactical Air Command.[314]
  • Operation Quick Lift 1995 – Support of NATO Rapid Reaction Force and Croatia forces deployment to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
  • Quick Shot – training activity by 49th Air Division while in United Kingdom, period 1952–56.[315] Other training missions included Kingpin and Bear Claw.

R

  • Rainmaker – Turse and Naylor write that this United States Africa Command codename refers to "A highly sensitive classified signals intelligence effort. Bases used: Chebelley, Djibouti; Baidoa, Baledogle, Kismayo and Mogadishu, Somalia."[20]
  • Operation Ranch Hand – UC-123 Defoliation and crop destruction missions in Vietnam and Laos[316]
  • Rapid Trident – Exercise Rapid Trident '14, held in Lviv, Ukraine, near the border with Poland was to “promote regional stability and security, strengthen partnership capacity, and foster trust while improving interoperability between USAREUR, the land forces of Ukraine, and other (NATO and partner) nations,” according to the USAREUR website.[25]
  • Operation Ready Swap – Use of reserve units to transport aircraft engines between Air Materiel Command's depots.[317]
  • Exercise Real Thaw – an annual exercise run by the Portuguese Air Force with the participation of the Army and Navy and foreign military forces. The exercise has the objective of creating a realistic as possible operational environment in which Portuguese forces might participate, provide joint training with both land, air and naval forces, and provide interoperability between different countries.[318]
  • Reaper Smoke – Annual competition among General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper units,[319]
  • Operation Red Hat – publicly acknowledged part of this operation involved relocation of chemical and biological weapons stored in Okinawa to Johnston Atoll for destruction. Most of the operation took place at night, to avoid observation of the operation by the Okinawans, who resented the presence of chemical munitions on the island. The chemical weapons consisted of rockets, mines, artillery projectiles, and bulk 1-ton containers filled with Sarin, Agent VX, vomiting agent, and blister agent such as mustard gas. There are indications that the codename was also used to designate storage and/or testing of chemical and biological agents on Okinawa in the 1960s, connected with Project 112.
  • Project Red Richard – 1959 relocation of nuclear weapons from France following an ultimatum from French president Charles de Gaulle.[320]
  • Reef Point – first designation for specially equipped Lockheed P-3 Orion long range maritime patrol aircraft, operated by VPU-1 and VPU-2 (Patrol Squadron, Special Projects), U.S. Navy.[204]
  • Exercise Reforger – Return of Forces to Germany (Cold War).
  • Joint Task Force Resolute Response (1998) – United States Central Command response to U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya.[321][322]
  • Operation Resolute Support – NATO non-combat advisory and training mission to support the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2015 onwards.
  • Operation Restore Hope – U.S. participation in UNOSOM II, 1992–1994, Somalian humanitarian aid and security efforts.[306]
  • Resultant Fury – DoD activity in November 2004 which included the weapons testing of free-fall bombs against decommissioned USN vessels off Hawaii.
  • Operation Riders Up – Movement of Strategic Air Command units from their Florida bases (Homestead, McCoy, MacDill) to make room for forward based Tactical Air Command units during the Cuban Missile Crisis.[323]
  • Exercise RIMPAC – Rim of the Pacific Exercise, large-scale U.S. Pacific Fleet activity with allied involvement.
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The tank landing ship ex-USS Schenectady lists after being struck by seven 2,000lb Joint Direct Attack Munitions during exercise Resultant Fury at the Pacific Missile Range Facility off the Island of Kauai, Hawaii, on Nov. 23, 2004.

S

  • Exercise Saber Guardian – July 2016 exercise involving 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team (ARNG) and troop elements from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and the U.S.[362]
  • Saber Safe – Minuteman pre-launch survivability program
  • Saber Secure – A Minuteman rebasing program
  • Safari Hunter – 2017 operation in Somalia with SNA/Jubaland striking north from Kismayo against Al-Shabaab centered in Middle Juba.[363] "Hunter" series shows Somali National Army Danab participation.
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Personnel from the Air National Guard and Ukrainian Air Force group-greet each other during Safe Skies 2011
  • Exercise Safe Skies – 2011 Ukrainian, Polish and American air forces fly-together to help prepare the Polish and Ukrainians for enhanced air supremacy and air sovereignty operations. Envisaged as helping lead up to Ukraine hosting Euro 2012. California Air National Guard began preparing the event in 2009 via the State Partnership Program.
  • Exercise Sage Brush – November–December 1955 joint U.S. Army/Air Force exercise at Fort Polk, Louisiana, lasting forty-five days.[364] Involved 110,000 Army and 30,500 Air Force personnel to trial army airmobility concepts to try to settle a dispute over the matter by the Army and Air Force. Some helicopter lift provided by the special 516th Troop Carrier Group, Assault, Rotary Wing, flying Piasecki H-21s as part of the 20th Combat Airlift Division (Provisional).
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52nd TFW F-4G Phantom II taking part in exercise Salty Hammer, 22 May 1990
  • Saharan Express – AFRICOM Naval Forces Africa scheduled and conducted, multilateral combined maritime exercises with West and North African states, supported by European partners, focusing on maritime security, and domain awareness. Saharan Express 2012 was to be held 23–30 April 2012.[10]
  • Operation Sand Flea – A series of training exercises the December 1989 invasion of Panama by the United States. These practices were conducted in part as training to defend the Panama Canal (a contingency then called Purple Storm), but were also intended simply to affirm the right of the US military to engage in them.[212] Conducted in the summer of 1989, these seemingly endless movements, also known as "Freedom of Movement Drills," overwhelmed the ability of the Panamanians to observe, analyze and understand the activities. In this way, this program desensitized the Panama Defense Force (PDF) to the coming invasion.
  • Exercise Salty Hammer – NATO air defense exercise, including sorties flown over the UK.
  • Project Sapphire – Transport of 1,300 pounds (590 kg) of highly enriched uranium from Kazakhstan to the United States in November 1994.[365]
  • Scope Light – Airborne command and control for Atlantic Command, operating Boeing EC-135P.[46][366] 6th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, Langley AFB, VA, 1973–1992.[367]
  • Scope Signal, Scope Shield - communications
  • Scope Warrior - USAF annual communications summit begun in October 1984[366]
  • Exercise Scrum Half - nuclear attack / civil defence exercise for UK conducted in 1978.[201]
  • Operation Sea Angel - Bangladesh
  • Sea Breeze - EUCOM PfP biennial command post exercise/FTX usually held in Ukraine
  • Operation Sea Signal
  • Seaspray - CIA/Army clandestine air unit created after failure of Operation Eagle Claw, attempt to rescue the U.S. Embassy hostages after the 1979 Iranian revolution
  • Sea Soldier - U.S.-Omani live-fire amphibious exercise series (Arkin, Code Names, 493)
  • In August 2002, Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit carried out a long-range deployment exercise from the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) into Djibouti. During the deployment the MEU also participated in Operation Sea Eagle in the Gulf of Aden. Sea Eagle was also a U.S., Japanese, Australian, and New Zealand exercise held in 1981.[368]
  • Operation Sealords – 1968 Mekong Delta and inland waterways campaign by the US Navy in Vietnam
  • Operation Secure Tomorrow – A multinational peace operation that took place from February 2004 to July 2004 in Haiti.
  • Seed Hawk X-Ray – 1971 program to modify Wild Weasel aircraft to operate the AGM-78B Standard ARM[55]
  • Seek - U.S. Air Force research and development first word. Multiple programs.[369]
  • Seek Clock - strategic nuclear related special access program (Arkin, 494)
  • Project Seek Eagle – The United States Air Force certification process for determining safe/acceptable carriage and release limits, loading and unloading procedures, safe escape parameters, and ballistic accuracy for all stores in specified loading configurations.[370]
  • Project Seek Frost – In 1977 the Rome Air Development Center began the "Seek Igloo" project to find a replacement for the AN/FPS-19 radar that would require less power and would run for extended times without maintenance. In 1980, General Electric won the contest with their GE-592 design, and the final design was accepted by RADC on 30 September 1983 and passed acceptance tests that year. This system became the AN/FPS-117 radar. Seek Frost was officially concerned only with DEW Line radars outside Alaska.
  • Project Seek Igloo – Portion of Project Seek Frost replacing DEW Line radars in Alaska.
  • Project Seek Screen – Improvements to the Tactical Air Control System.[371]
  • Seek Spinner – 1987 evaluation of an upgraded CGM-121A as a low cost alternative to the AGM-136 Tacit Rainbow Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses missile.[281]
  • Senior - U.S. Air Force special access program and reconnaissance related first word
  • Senior Ball – Shipment of material directed by USAF.
  • Senior Blade – Senior Year ground station (a van capable of exploiting U-2R digital imagery).
  • Senior Blue – Air-to-Air Anti-Radiation Missile (?)
  • Senior Book – U-2R COMINT system, used on flights from Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base over the Gulf of Tonkin. First flight 17 August 1971. Information was downloaded in real time to a ground station at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base for relay to USAF fighters operating in Southeast Asia. Renamed Olympic Torch 11 April 1972.[372]
  • Senior Bowl – 2 B-52Hs, serials 60-21 and 60–36, modified to carry two Lockheed D-21B "Tagboard" reconnaissance drones
  • Senior Cejay – Northrop B-2A stealth bomber, former Senior Ice (name changed when the development contract was awarded to Northrop on 4 November 1981). Sometimes quoted as Senior CJ.
  • Senior Chevron – Senior Year-related program.
  • Senior Citizen – Classified program; probably a projected Special Operations stealth and/or STOL transport aircraft. Arkin writes that this was an Aurora reconnaissance aircraft or similar low observable system.[373]
  • Senior Class – Shipment of material directed by Headquarters USAF.
  • Senior Club – Low-observable anti-tamper advanced technology systems assessment.
  • Senior Crown – Lockheed SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft,[5] based on CIA-sponsored A-12 "Oxcart"
  • Senior Dagger – A test & evaluation exercise performed by Control Data Corp. for Air Force Rome Air Development Center for purposes of reconnaissance. It may involve flights of Lockheed SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft in Southeast Asia.
  • Senior Dance – ELINT/SIGINT program, possibly U-2 related.
  • Senior Game – A military item shipping designation.
  • Senior Glass – U-2 SIGINT sensor package upgrade combining Senior Spear and Senior Ruby
  • Senior Guardian – Grob/E-Systems D-500 Egrett, high-altitude surveillance / reconnaissance aircraft, German-US cooperation, 1980s
  • Senior Ice – Advanced Technology Bomber program, including Lockheed proposal and the Northrop B-2 stealth bomber; renamed Senior Cejay on 4 November 1981
  • Senior Peg – proposal for a stealthy strategic bomber by Lockheed Corporation together with Rockwell International. It was created as part of the Advanced Technology Bomber competition, which started in 1979.[374] Lost to a design by Northrop (Senior Ice), which would eventually become the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit.
  • Senior Prom – Classified black project conducted by the US Air Force in conjunction with the Lockheed Corp's Skunk Works for the development and testing of a cruise missile using stealth technology, 1978–82.
  • Senior Trend – Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk special access program development, previously Have Blue.[187]
  • Sentinel Alloy – Land gravity surveys in support of the Minuteman system, cancelled
  • Sentinel Aspen – Upgrades in intelligence training, particularly the General Imagery Intelligence Training System.[375]
  • Sentinel Lock – Development of raster annotated photography by Aeronautical Charting and Information Service for mapping in Southeast Asia.[55]
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Six F-16s of the Texas Air National Guard traveled to Hawaii for Exercise Sentry Aloha in 2006.
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A reservist member of the British Special Air Service walks off a drop zone during Exercise Strong Enterprise in Denmark, 1955.

T

  • Tacit Rainbow – 1980s program to develop a low cost antiradiation missile with a loitering capability. Developed by Northrop as AGM-136A, cancelled in 1992 due to cost overruns.[393]
  • Operation Tack Hammer – 1961 Deployment of eight fighter squadrons from the United States to France responding to the 1961 Berlin Crisis. Replaced by mobilized Air National Guard units under Operation Stair Step.[385]
  • Exercise Talisman Sabre – Biennial joint exercise involving United States and Australian military forces.
  • Operation Tally Ho – Interdiction operations in Route Package 1, southern part of North Viet Nam[5]
  • Exercise Talon Shield - US Air Force components of the 55th Wing deployed to Australia to show force interoperability with the RAAF[394]
  • Tamale Pete – Vietnam War air refueling operations planning. See Young Tiger.
  • Tandem Thrust – in 2005, Exercise Tandem Thrust, along with Exercises Crocodile and Kingfisher, was combined to form Exercise Talisman Saber.
  • Teal Ruby – STS-62-A was a planned Space Shuttle mission to deliver a reconnaissance payload (Teal Ruby) into polar orbit
  • Exercise Teamwork – A major NATO biennial exercise in defense of Norway against a Soviet land and maritime threat. It was established by Norway, Denmark, the UK and the U.S. in 1982 and grew considerably up until the early 1990s. Teamwork '88 allowed NATO to evaluate its ability to conduct a maritime campaign in the Norwegian Sea and project forces ashore in northern Norway. Teamwork '92 was the largest NATO exercise for more than a decade.[395] Held in the northern spring of 1992, it included a total of over 200 ships and 300 aircraft, held in the North Atlantic. Vice Admiral Nicholas Hill-Norton, Flag Officer, Surface Flotilla, led the RN contingent as Commander, Anti-Submarine Warfare Striking Force (CASWF), with Commodore Amphibious Warfare (COMAW) embarked in HMS Fearless.[396]
  • Tempest Express – United States Pacific Command computer-assisted exercise to train the HQ USPACOM staff to function as a Joint Task Force headquarters. The exercise is held as often as needed, three to seven times a year.[395] Tempest Express 2013 involved elements of the PACOM command post traveling to New Zealand to carry out a disaster relief exercise.
  • Tempest Rapid – Employment of DOD resources in natural disaster emergencies in the Continental United States.
  • Thracian Star – Combined exercises with the Bulgarian Air Force, name is followed by year of exercise.[397]
  • Thirsty Camel – 1966 deployment of Convair F-102 aircraft from Travis AFB to Naha AB.[42]
  • Operation Tiger Hound – Air interdiction operations in the Steel Tiger area of Laos[5]
  • Operation Tomahawk – Deployment of airmobile forces in the Battle of the Imjin River during the Korean War
  • Top Flight – 1959 operation to set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale zoom altitude record with a YF4H-1 Phantom II[195]
  • Trojan Horse – Replacement name for Lucky Dragon operations starting in December 1964. After Operation Rolling Thunder began in March 1965, U-2 flights were restricted from surface to air missile sites. The name changed to Giant Dragon on 1 July 1967.[398]
  • Tropic Moon III – Martin B-57G fitted with Low Light Television and other sensors for night operations[5]
  • Operation Try Out – Test of proposed Strategic Air Command aircraft ground alert at Hunter Air Force Base from November 1956 to March 1957, demonstrating its feasibility.[161]

U

V

  • Valiant Blitz – 1990 iteration amphibious exercise landing in South Korea, part of larger PACEX 89.[271]
  • Exercise Valiant Shield – United States Pacific Command large-scale warfighting exercise
  • Exercise Valiant Usher 86 – a declassified U.S. Central Command historical document[403] said that: 'Valiant Usher 86 was conducted in Somalia from 1 to 7 November 1985. Initially planned to be an amphibious, combined/joint exercise including the Mediterranean Marine Amphibious Unit/Amphibious Ready Group (ARG)and [Somali] forces, the exercise was completely restructured when the ARG was retained in the Mediterranean and replaced with a battalion (-) of the 101st Airborne Division. In spite of limited planning time, the exercise was described as a "total success", highlighting both the rapid capability.. to substitute forces, as well as the flexibility of the forces to accomplish assigned objectives.'
  • Victory Scrimmage – V Corps multi-divisional exercise of January–February 2003 to prepare for Operation Iraqi Freedom
  • Exercise Vigilant Eagle – NORAD/Russian Armed Forces exercise, repeated several times, involving response to a simulated hijacked airliner over Canadian/U.S./Russian airspace.
  • Operation Vigilant Warrior 1994 – Response to Iraqi buildup along Kuwait border.
  • Operation Volant Dew — Petroleum resupply for radar stations on the northern ice cap.[404]
  • Volant Oak – See Coronet Oak. Operation name when directed by Military Airlift Command from 1977 to 1992
  • Volant Solo – Coronet Solo renamed when EC-130Es replaced EC-121s as psychological warfare aircraft.[88]
  • Volant Wind - airlift operation to move Operation Desert Shield personnel and material to Middle East.[405]
  • Exercise Vortex Warrior – RAF Chinook exercise for desert operations in preparation for Afghan deployments at the U.S. Naval Air Facility El Centro, in Imperial County, Southern California. 2014, planned 2018.

W

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Chinook helicopters from No. 18 (B) Squadron RAF practising desert operations during Exercise Vortex Warrior '14, April 2014.

Y

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