military operation, operation - activity by a military or naval force (as a maneuver or campaign); "it was a joint operation of the navy and air force"

expedition, hostile expedition, military expedition - a military campaign designed to achieve a specific objective in a foreign country

Dardanelles campaign, Dardanelles - the unsuccessful campaign in World War I (1915) by the English and French to open a passage for aid to Russia; defeated by the Turks

Okinawa campaign, Okinawa - a campaign in the closing days of World War II in the Pacific (April to June 1945); in savage close-quarter fighting United States marines and regular army troops took the island from the Japanese; considered the greatest victory of the Pacific campaign for the Americans

Petersburg, Petersburg Campaign - the final campaign of the American Civil War (1864-65); Union forces under Grant besieged and finally defeated Confederate forces under Lee

Wilderness Campaign - American Civil War; a series of indecisive battles in Grant's campaign (1864) against Lee in which both armies suffered terrible losses

armed forces, armed services, military, military machine, war machine - the military forces of a nation; "their military is the largest in the region"; "the military machine is the same one we faced in 1991 but now it is weaker"