The U.S.-led coalition has been dropping bombs against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq over the last two months, but it was only on Wednesday that the military campaign was given a name: "Operation Inherent Resolve."

U.S. Central Command said the name represents the "unwavering resolve and deep commitment" of the United States and its allies to eliminate the Islamic State threat in the region through "diplomatic, informational, military, [and] economic means."

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Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told a press briefing on Wednesday that the new name is intended to signify the coalition's resolve and determination to get after the Islamic State, also called ISIS and ISIL, that has been rampaging Syria and Iraq with bloody campaigns.

U.S. Central Command said Inherent Resolve applies retroactively to all other military missions mounted against the Islamist group since August 8, the first day U.S. airstrikes targeted ISIS positions in Iraq.

The name was formalized after President Barack Obama held a meeting with military chiefs from 20 coalition members at the Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, best known for hosting the president's personal jet, the Air Force One.

Large scale military operations have routinely been given names, usually with a particular message in mind.

Operation Overlord was the name given to the D-Day landings that helped defeat Germany during the Second World War.

The Afghanistan war goes by the name of Operation Enduring Freedom, while at various points of the Iraqi intervention it was called Operation Desert Shield, when U.S. stopped Saddam Hussein's forces from invading Saudi Arabia, Operation Desert Storm, when the forces booted Saddam's troops from Kuwait, and eventually Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Col. Edward Thomas, spokesman to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, disclosed the name at a press briefing at Pentagon.

Thomas declined to offer any explanation on the moniker's genesis and why it took so long for officials to finally give the operation a name.

According to an October 3 report published by The Wall Street Journal, Pentagon officials were not at first in favor of the operation's new name. Inherent Resolve was earlier suggested, but later discarded by Pentagon, with one officer saying, "It is just kind of bleh."

TagsISIS campaign, Operation Inherent Resolve, U.S.-led coalition, ISIL, ISIS