[ via the Muted Horn ] A 1995 article from the U. S. Army journal Parameters on the history of the art of naming military operations from WW I to the present day.
For example, the name for the US Marine operation to aid victims of the 1991 typhoon which devastated Bangladesh was originally Operation Productive Effort, a name that General Colin Powell admitted he never liked and which neither he nor his staff could remember. “After a day of struggling with Productive Effort, I said to my staff, `We’ve just got to get a better name.’” When the following day’s newspaper reported that the Bangladeshis who saw the Marines coming in from the sea by helicopter and landing craft said, “Look! Look! Angels! From the sea!” the operation was rechristened Sea Angel.
The name of the current home defense operation is Noble Eagle. Thanks to Dale Cruse for the info.
