Where Do Names For Military Operations Originate?

Operation Pillar of Defense. Hamas calls its own operation "Stones of Baked Clay" in Arabic. Photo by Eliyahu Hershkovitz

Name Your Military Operation. A Guide -- Haaretz

From Desert Storm to Pillar of Defense. Who - or what - comes up with the names for military campaigns.

“The naming of cats is a difficult matter,” wrote T.S. Eliot. So is the naming of storms − searing Sandy was already followed by the tempestuous Tony − and the naming of military operations.

“A cat must have three different names,” the poet continues. But the Israeli military operation that has just ended, had aimed at stopping the barrage of missiles from Gaza, has at least two. In the Hebrew media’s coverage of events in the air and on the ground, the term used was Operation “Amud Anan.” This alliterative couple of words literally means in English “Pillar of Cloud,” but on the Israel Defense Forces’ English-language site − and consequently in English language media − it was Operation “Pillar of Defense.”

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WNU Editor: Lt. Col. Gregory C. Sieminski's article .... “The Art of Naming Operations” .... can be read here.