Eight of the goofiest code names for U.S. military operations in history

You did not want to be served Operation Breakfast

A U.S. Army soldier occupies Manuel Noriega’s residence in 1989. The U.S. invasion of Panama was partially conducted under the codename “Operation Sand Flea.” (Raphael Gaillarde/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

In the past, code names for military operations were strictly kept secret. But with the development of 24-hour news cycles the U.S. Armed Forces have seen a public relations opportunity in strategic titling. Just Cause (Nicaragua, 1989), Desert Storm (Iraq, 1991), Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan, 2001)—propagandist pronouncements conjured as heroic allusions to noble aims. Some operations remain purposefully arcane (Operation Centaur Rodeo) or adopt an intimidating tone (Operation Eagle Claw), others use humor in a clever subversion of the actions they entail (Operation Paul Bunyan).

Below is a look at some of the more bizarre and confusing code names used over the years. Not all involved raiding or killing—some were humanitarian missions, in fact—but most display a keen, if cavalier sense of irony and jaded humor.

Berlin residents watching airlift planes in 1949. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Operation Vittles

West Berlin, 1949

Better known as the Berlin Airlift, Vittles was a response to the Soviet blockade of West Berlin — the first major incident of the Cold War. Allied air forces ran daily flights over the city to drop supplies like food and fuel to the entrenched citizens below.

South Vietnamese babies on a flight from Saigon to the USA during Operation Babylift, the mass evacuation of children from South Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War, from 3rd to 26th April 1975. (Jean-Claude Francolon/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Operation Babylift

Vietnam, 1975

This mass evacuation of orphans after the fall of Saigon had thousands of infants and children flown to safety—and new lives—in the U.S., Australia, France, and Canada.

The Iranian frigate Sahand under attack by U.S. aircraft after the USS Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian mine in 1988. (Wikimedia)

Operation Praying Mantis

Iran, 1988

A naval attack on the Iranian frigate Sahand, this mission was retaliation for Iran’s mining of the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war. An American warship had suffered damage from the floating mines, though no loss of life. Forty-five Iranian crew members were killed in the response attack.

A Cambodian villager shows off an American bomb fragment in 1999. The debris from ordnance dropped during the Vietnam war still litters the forests of northeast Cambodia. (Yvan Cohen/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Operation Breakfast

Cambodia, 1969

Henry Kissinger’s secret plot to carpet bomb Cambodia during the Vietnam War. It was so named because it was the first action in a larger plan called Operation Menu, which also included Operations Lunch, Snack, Dinner, and Dessert.

Paratroopers from the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment descend into Honduras during maneuvers to counter Nicaraguan movements in the region. (Wikimedia)

Operation Golden Pheasant

Honduras, 1988

This emergency deployment of troops to Honduras was a response to Nicaraguan incursions into Contra-controlled infrastructure. The standoff was quickly resolved when Sandinista forces retreated back over the border.

An infantryman is lowered into a Viet Cong tunnel by members of the reconnaissance “tunnel rat” platoon in April 1967. (Wikimedia)

Operation Cedar Falls

Vietnam, 1967

This Search and Destroy mission was the largest ground offensive by U.S. troops during the Vietnam War. The goal was to eradicate Viet Cong forces from the “Iron Triangle” area outside Saigon. Specially trained troops called “tunnel rats” infiltrated the extensive system of underground tunnels. Local civilians were also driven from their homes in an attempt to completely depopulate the region.

American soldiers cool off using their helmets and water from the Mekong Delta. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Operation Game Warden

Vietnam, 1965–1973

Recognizing the strategic importance of Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta, this wide reaching joint Naval operation between the U.S. and South Vietnam established patrols aimed at intercepting Viet Cong insurgents using the waterways for transportation.

U.S. Colonel Sue Ann Sandusky (R) visits a rebel stronghold in Liberia during attempts to evacuate Americans to the government controlled section of Monrovia in 2003. (Georges Gobet/AFP/Getty Images)

Operation Shining Express

Liberia, 2003

Shining Express, which lasted about a month, was a rescue operation that deployed troops to evacuate U.S. citizens and embassy workers from Monrovia during the Second Liberian Civil War.