Operation Odyssey Dawn

Operation Odyssey Dawn
Part of the 2011 military intervention in Libya and the Libyan Civil War
USS Barry fires a Tomahawk cruise missile during Operation Odyssey Dawn.
Date 19–31 March 2011 Location Libya Result NATO victory Effective no-fly zone established[1] Operations handed over to NATO Operation Unified Protector
Belligerents
United States	Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Commanders and leaders
Barack Obama President of the United States and Commander in Chief of U.S. Armed Forces Robert Gates U.S. Secretary of Defense GEN Carter Ham, USA U.S. Africa Command Commander ADM Samuel Locklear, USN Joint Task Force Commander VADM Harry Harris, USN Joint Forces Maritime Component Commander Maj Gen Margaret Woodward, USAF Joint Forces Air Component Commander	Muammar Gaddafi De facto Commander-in-Chief Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr Minister of Defense Khamis al-Gaddafi Khamis Brigade Commander Ali Sharif al-Rifi Air Force Commander
Strength
See deployed forces	490 tanks 240 mobile rocket launchers 35 helicopters 113 air-land attack fighters 229 air fighters 7 bombers[2]
Casualties and losses
1 F-15E (mechanical failure,[3] aircrew survived[4]) 1 MQ-8B Fire Scout (possibly shot down[5])	Multiple anti-aircraft defenses, airforce assets, and army vehicles, artillery, and tanks damaged or destroyed
114 killed and 445 wounded (Libyan health ministry claim)*[6] 40 civilians killed (in Tripoli; Vatican claim)[7]
*Libyan health ministry claim has not been independently confirmed. The U.S. military claims it has no knowledge of civilian casualties.[8]

Operation Odyssey Dawn was the U.S. code name^{[Note 1]} for the American role in the international military operation in Libya to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973^{[10][11][12][13][14]} during the initial period of 19–31 March 2011, which continued afterwards under NATO command as Operation Unified Protector. The initial operation implemented a no-fly zone that was proposed during the Libyan Civil War to prevent government forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi from carrying out air attacks on anti-Gaddafi forces. On 19 March 2011, several countries prepared to take immediate military action at a summit in Paris.^[15] Operations commenced on the same day with a strike by French fighter jets, then US and UK forces conducting strikes from ships and submarines via 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles and air assets bombing Gaddafi forces near Benghazi.^[16] The goal of coalition forces was to impose a no-fly zone for Libyan government forces.

The U.S. initially had strategic command of the military intervention, coordinated missions between coalition members and set up Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn on USS Mount Whitney for the tactical command and control in the area of operations.^[11][12] but passed complete military command of the operation to NATO and took up a support role on 31 March 2011.^[17] Prior to that, an agreement to pass command of the arms embargo to NATO was reached on 23 March,^[18] and a handover of enforcement of the no-fly zone to NATO was agreed to on 24 March and became effective the following day.^[19] With the handover of coalition command to NATO, Operation Odyssey Dawn remained the name for the activities of U.S. forces,^[20] and the coalition's objectives continued to be carried out under Operation Unified Protector. However, NATO's objectives did not include aiding the rebel forces' efforts to take control of territory held by the government.^[21]

The British name for its military support of Resolution 1973 is Operation Ellamy,^[22] the Canadian participation is Operation Mobile,^[23] and the French participation is Opération Harmattan.^[24][19]

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