‘Odyssey Dawn’ Is Pentagon-Crafted Nonsense

I found this article interesting as it tells how this current operation's name was chosen, along with how others are picked.

The U.S. military’s nickname for the no-fly zone in Libya sounds like the beginning of a long adventure. But Defense Department officials insist that there’s no hidden meaning behind “Operation Odyssey Dawn.” It’s just the product of the Pentagon’s semi-random name-generating system.

Each command within the vast Defense Department apparatus is given a series of two-letter groupings that they can use for their operations’ two-word sobriquets. Under the system, the U.S. Africa Command, nominally in charge of the Libya strikes, was given three sets of words that it could begin the operation with.

"These words begin between the letters JF-JZ, NS-NZ and OA-OF, and those three groups give about 60 some odd words,” explains Africom spokesman Eric Elliott. “So, the folks who were responsible for naming this went through and they had done recent activities with NS and they went to O.”

Using the O series of letters, Africom officials picked out “Odyssey” for the first word. The second word is picked “as random as possible because that’s the goal of these operational names,” says Elliot. Africom pulled out “Dawn” for its second word and the resulting combination, “Odyssey Dawn,” is devoid of any intended meaning, Elliott insists.

Leave it to the military/government to make something as simple as choosing a title so complicated. I guess it makes it seem more intelligent. I certainly hope this is not the beginning of a long "adventure".

The modern system for assigning names to operations, exercises and the like came out of bad PR experiences in the Korean and Vietnam wars, according to Lt. Col. Gregory Sieminski’s brief history of “The Art of Naming Operations,” published in Parameters in 1995. Nicknames like “Operation Killer” during the Korean war and Vietnam’s “Operation Masher,” Sieminski wrote, caused controversy when reported in the press. As a result, the Pentagon issued its first guidelines restricting how nicknames can be formed in 1972 and created the two-letter system in 1975.

Combatant Commands still have to be careful about what words they pick under the two-letter system. Official guidelines prohibit “well-known commercial trademarks” in operation nicknames, as well as ”exotic” or “trite” choices. Nicknames can’t be spelled similar to or sound like codewords.

Yet another example of government labeled euphemisms designed to make things seem "not so bad". It looks to me like if you were doing great and noble things that you would be able to call it what it is instead of giving it a prettier name created for maximum placation.

Some lesser operations, like a 2004 roundup of insurgents in Kirkuk called “Operation Slim Shady,” also don’t seem like they would have passed through the Defense Department’s official guidelines.

Eminem fan much? They can come up with some strange names for sure.

You can read more here...
www.wired.com...

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


Maybe they should just call it, "The Current Operation in Libya" or "March 2011 Libya"

The nicknames are nothing more than fodder for conspiracy theorists and goofy propagandizing infographics and t-shirts.

When we first went into Afghanistan, the idiots in the Bush Administration originally called it "Operation Just Crusade," maybe the worst possible name they could have come up with politically as it conjured up all sorts of bad memories of, well, The Crusades. I wonder what moron came up with that and why anyone thought it was a good idea. Clearly a bunch of people totally devoid of any understanding of the history and culture of the region.

In light of fiascos like that, calling something Odyssey Dawn and the reasons for it seems like not too bad an idea. Still sounds silly, though.

I had originally assumed the name came from the fact that Odysseus traveled to parts of Libya during his mythic journey, though he was all over the Mediterranean, really. The Lotus Eaters were probably in what is now Tunisia, but right next to Libya

reply to post by RobertAntonWeishaupt


That would be too easy and probably cheaper than paying 200 people to discuss it. And we know all too well that our government doesn't put stock into ridiculous things like that....

Operation Kick Qaddaffi's Ass

I see nothing wrong with this one

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


Hey, there are retarded nephews and neices out there who need jobs too.
But yeah just give it a name not a process for a name.

What a f**king mess.

That sounds like a good name to me.

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe

I thought about starting a thread on the name "Odyssey Dawn" several days ago but didnt get around to it. You are absolutely right as an odyssey is a long adventure (as in the epic greek poem) and the dawn is a beginning (to a day). So it looks like this is the start of a long adventure.....thankfully they didnt add references to world/global and war or #3 (as in WWIII).

Nothing to see here, move along, move along. It was just a coincidence that this war started the same day as the last few wars.

Its coincidence that it aligns with a ritual sacrifice. Its coincidence that Ostara was the Germanic Goddess of Dawn and Spring.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e1585979e613.jpg[/atsimg]

Ostara is the same as Ishtar, Isis, Astarte - Queen of Heaven.

This war is a sacrifice to Astarte on her feast day - the start of Spring. Its why so many wars are initiated between 3/19 and 3/24.

Skull and Bones
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/457ffdf5c710.jpg[/atsimg]

I had nothing to do with this "adventure" but....I have to admit that in late March of 2003 (after the start of the Iraqi war) I emailed the White House to suggest a military operation plan which I called Operation Scorpion. It had dual meaning in that the scorpion is a deadly desert insect and strikes by grabbing it's prey with it's pinchers and stinging from above with it's tail. Briefly, my plan was for a double envelopment or dual "pincher" attack on Bagdad from the sides (Army from the west and Marine Expeditionary Force from the east and an Army division to the south of the city to prevent escape) and then an air assault attack from the north to go into the city to finish them off (tail stinger). They did not execute it as I drew it up ...but several months later a 2 week campaign called "Operation Desert Scorpion" was launched against Fallujah (and then there were two smaller 1-2 day minor campaigns called "operation spartan scorpion" and "operation scorpion sting", respectively, for the city of Bagdad and other parts of Iraq in June also). Since the WH saves their emails - now I am no longer anonymous; c'est la vie - c'est le guerre.

reply to post by ararisq

One conspiracy theory re the "322" is that Julius Caesar did not die on 3/15 but was secreted away unconscious and awoke (virtually from the dead) on 322 and plotted from that point on to take over the world.....of course, it could just be the Plate # of various skull & bones art samples from the Encyclopedia Britannica or some old book also.

I have no idea why they feel the need to name operations in such a roundabout way.

Why not call it "operation We're Gonna Kill Gaddafi Because he threatened to use his countries resources as he sees fit, and put down a rebbelion"?

I don't agree with what he has done, but I have to say there is something of the psy-op about the way they name their "operations"

Between that and the snappy (sarcasm) acronyms, it all makes me giggle more than a tad...