Are OEF, OIF, and ISAF different theaters of operations?

SFC Jeffrey Couch — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 14:10:52 -0400

Question that could and is being argued are OIF and OEF and ISAF three different theaters of operation if so how come command tells me they are the same theater I don't think this to be true any thoughts

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Oct 25 at 2015 2:27 PM

SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 14:27:42 -0400

SFC Jeffrey Couch great question. Here is a link that might help bring clarity to the operation in Afghanistan.
http://m.military.com/daily-news/2014/12/29/amid-confusion-dod-names-new-mission-operation-freedoms.html

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 25 at 2015 2:30 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 14:30:56 -0400

OIF and OEF are two missions which both fall under the Global War on Terrorism.
ISAF is the NATO led International Security Assistance Force which is tasked with the security mission in Afghanistan.

Response by SGT Christina Barron made Oct 25 at 2015 2:33 PM

SGT Christina Barron — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 14:33:34 -0400

Yes and no. A theater of operation is a geographic area. OIF was in Iraq, ISAF and OEF were/are Afghanistan. ISAF and OEF are different military operations at different times in the same theater of operation. At least that is my understanding of the definition of the term.

Response by SPC Joshua Leuck made Oct 25 at 2015 2:34 PM

SPC Joshua Leuck — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 14:34:19 -0400

They are separate theaters. I served in OEF and OIF. The other is an international group of military members from around the world. They served in Afganistan and Iraq.

Response by SSG Jamil Spruill made Oct 25 at 2015 2:35 PM

SSG Jamil Spruill — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 14:35:08 -0400

OIF and OEF are two different operational periods and define the country of the operations, ISAF defines the unit forces in theater

Response by COL Jon Thompson made Oct 25 at 2015 2:48 PM

COL Jon Thompson — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 14:48:17 -0400

OEF was the initial operation in the War on Terror and generally means the operations in Afghanistan and surrounding countries but is actually larger than that. It ended in DEC 14. OIF is what took place in Iraq from the invasion until DEC 11. ISAF is the International Security and Assistance Force, the NATO led mission in Afghanistan. US troops that were in Afghanistan thru DEC 14 were part of OIF and under the command and control of ISAF. ISAF has no role in Iraq or OIF.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 25 at 2015 2:54 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 14:54:19 -0400

They are all in the same theater of operations, but they are all different operations.

Response by SGT Roberto Mendoza-Diaz made Oct 25 at 2015 3:35 PM

SGT Roberto Mendoza-Diaz — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 15:35:24 -0400

Theater on this context means location, so your command is right.

Response by MSgt John Carroll made Oct 25 at 2015 3:36 PM

MSgt John Carroll — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 15:36:46 -0400

There is more to it than location. Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) is self explanatory. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and ISAF were both Afghanistan related. Not only were they different chains, they had different ROEs. I would love to get into detail on the ROEs but this is not the proper forum. What I will say is OEF ROEs were more forgiving. That is one reason maneuver units wanted USAF EOD teams. We fell under OEF even when they were ISAF.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 25 at 2015 5:19 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 17:19:42 -0400

OIF is differant than OEF and ISAF isn't a theather.

Response by SSgt Alex Robinson made Oct 25 at 2015 8:51 PM

SSgt Alex Robinson — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 20:51:24 -0400

They are all in the CENTCOM AOR

Response by LCDR Kent Meyer made Oct 25 at 2015 9:09 PM

LCDR Kent Meyer — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 21:09:51 -0400

Both are in the CENTCOM AOR but OIF a military Operation is constrained to to the Iraq theater of operation. OEF is all areas not Iraqi that support the Global War on Terror (this is mostly CENTOM AOR and Afghanistan, but there are others). ISAF a force operates in the Afghanistan theater of operations but falls unde NATO And EUCOM. Your command is probably means they are both in CENTCOM. It is a mix, similar to Korean, which is a theater within the larger PACOM theater.

Response by MAJ James Woods made Oct 26 at 2015 9:42 AM

MAJ James Woods — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 09:42:24 -0400

It depends on what your question. All three are all part of the same theater of operation, CENTCOM. But all three are different combat operations with different mission statements. So from what perspective are you arguing?

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2015 10:22 AM

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 10:22:50 -0400

Theater: "The geographical area for which a Commander of a Geographic Combatant Command has been assigned responsibility. Combatant Command: "A unified or specified command with a broad continuing mission under a single commander established and so designated by the President, through the Secretary of Defense and with the advice and assistance of the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff." Specified Combatant Command: "A command, normally composed of forces from a single Military Department, that has a broad, continuing mission, normally functional, and is
established and so designated by the President through the Secretary of Defense with the
advice and assistance of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." Unified Command: "A command with a broad continuing mission under a single commander and composed of significant assigned components of two or more Military Departments that is established and so designated by the President, through the Secretary of Defense with the advice and assistance of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Also called unified combatant command." So...from this...we must do what is always done with doctrine. We have to piece it together. When the Joint Community talks about GCC's, we talk about CENTCOM, SOUTHCOM, PACOM, NORTHCOM, EUCOM, etc. These are our Geographic Combatant Commands. Thus, a Theater would be that geographic area of operations which they are responsible for. Using this definition, we see that the ones you are referencing are in CENTCOM...ONE THEATER. That being said, there used to be a Unified Command in Iraq. I don't know if it's still there. USF-I used to be a Unified Command. You could argue that at that time, Iraq was its own Theater under that Unified Command. The Commander received support and assistance from CENTCOM, but had a direct line to the Secretary of Defense, much like the CENTCOM commander does. I don't know if the same thing can be said about Afghanistan. As pointed out, OIF and OEF are not theaters, but missions within a geographic area. ISAF is not a theater, but a command.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2015 11:44 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 11:44:04 -0400

I don't know both can suck to be at but I also miss them both! I'll let you know if I get to go back

Response by PO1 Aaron Baltosser made Oct 26 at 2015 3:25 PM

PO1 Aaron Baltosser — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 15:25:57 -0400

Absolutely not the same theater. Iraq is flat, Afghanistan is not. The experiences in each are quite different. You can get by just knowing Arabic in Iraq, but would be fairly screwed if that was the only language skill you bring to the party in Afghanistan. Why your command would think two p,aces far removed from each other are the same theater begs additional questions.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 27 at 2015 1:14 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 13:14:03 -0400

They are 3 different missions within the SW Asia Theater of Operations. 2 U.S. Campaigns (OEF & OIF) and 1 NATO mission. All three are in the U.S. CENTCOM AOR.

Response by CPT Jason Torpy made Oct 27 at 2015 1:17 PM

CPT Jason Torpy — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 13:17:10 -0400

Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) #7 was Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) #1. So at that time, it was 1 theater back in 2013. I deployed under both, so at least initially, Iraq and Afghanistan were one theater and then combined. And in any case, they're both CENTCOM, so that's one one theater. But it's probably changed since ISAF.

Response by SSG Eric Hall made Oct 28 at 2015 1:56 PM

SSG Eric Hall — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 13:56:20 -0400

OIF - Iraq OEF - Afghanistan ISAF - Afghanistan

Response by LTC Paul Mullins made Oct 29 at 2015 10:28 AM

LTC Paul Mullins — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 10:28:08 -0400

Wow, my head hurts and I can't stop laughing. There is so much truth mixed with personal perspective that this thread would be a great study for how myths are created! lol This is tough to explain in pure words, it is one of the times that powerpoint or any graphic would make it easier to understand and it looks like spaghetti when you look at it. Here is my attempt at taking a lot of the previous information and connecting it all into one understanding.

CENTCOM is the Geographic Combatant Command (GCC) for Iraq and Afghanistan and has a geographically defined theater of operations that includes them. U.S. forces operating in the CENTCOM Theater/AOR fall under them for their U.S. support and a chopped to CENTCOM almost always from FORSCOM (Forces Command) in the U.S under an order from SECDEF. Under CENTCOM all four "services" have a Component Command. ARCENT (Army Central Command) is the Army portion of CENTCOM and does have a forward HQs in Kuwait and manages CENTCOM efforts primarily focusing on land operations in the geographic theater. There is also AFCENT, NAVCENT and MARFOCENT in support of CENTCOM directed missions.

We, as the U.S., do almost all our operations under a NATO operation or UN mandate to justify our actions to the rest of the world and build consensus for coalition support. So, forces in Afghanistan operate under a NATO command that derives its authority from a UN mandate to establish an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), similar to what we did for the Balkans. As a general rule you end up with the "two master" syndrome as you have to ask which hat a leader is wearing since almost all Generals wear a NATO hat and a U.S. hat for authorities. For OIF, We invaded Iraq citing failure to comply with UN Resolution 1441 and without a UN mandate or without a NATO Article 5 declaration, the two ways we normally go to gain international "approval."

Response by SSG Todd Halverson made Oct 29 at 2015 2:34 PM

SSG Todd Halverson — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 14:34:30 -0400

No they are not different theaters of operations. OEF and OIF are under the control of CENTCOM, while ISAF is another command withing the OEF AOR. On that point, OIF is no longer in operation as that part of the mission had ended and New Dawn was born. I haven't heard the new name for the guys redeploying to Iraq yet. But, they still are all under 1 theater.

Response by Lt Col Harry Clawson made Oct 29 at 2015 7:08 PM

Lt Col Harry Clawson — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 19:08:51 -0400

OEF & OIF are two military campaigns and you can receive their indivual combat ribbons and campaign stars based on your participation in either mission -as someone said OEF did have ops outside of Centcom - check the rules online for various geographic and time/type of missions -- although orders help, they are not be all end all-- for example, a C17 deployed to ramstien Germany might be combat doing airdrops in Afghanistan, never land and back to Germany and still qualify for OEF campaign-- the same for OIF. And you could do both on a single deployment--- ISAF is contained within OEF Afghanistan but didn't start until Mid 2000s (I can't remember exactly but I want to say07(check me on this)-- even though NATO forces were with us from the very earliest OEF days in 01. ( ISAF was a specified mission broken out mid 2000s base on a command organization and has existed "inside" OEF confines ever since ). if you had the NATO orders for ISAF -- easy proof. But you could still qualify for NATO ribbon if you were direct support but not deployed with ISAF orders(I did this). OEF started OCT 01- and OIF mar 03 check the exact dates for the first campaign star because again you may have deployed before the named ops and supported the first campaign (which is spathe shortest for both OEF and OIF of their stars so check and then it requires a letter normally through the command you were assigned to at the time staying you conducted missions meeting the requirement). The dates and specifications are easy to find. I was deployed on 9 October 01 and that was before OEF was declared but I think it was on orders "official" after 15/10/01. If you have ISAF orders deployment you would also qualify for OEF. Couple notes-- last phase of OIF became op new dawn-- not another campaign star as I recall - my unit was there for the entire war pre March 03 to dec 11 and as I recall 6 campaign stars and then new dawn. Last I check OEF afghan was 5 campaign stars. I had 4 of each and added 1 to the NATO ISAF (first one was BH -- so you wear original NATO but add a campaign star for additional combat mission.). BL --orders are nice because they make it easy to do the paperwork and while a ground troop may have clear cut aor lines most of the time but others may not and I had to fly through multiple countries to get to the one that I was kicking ass in on about half of my 13 combat rotations so check the combat ribbon rules -- Orders are not the only way. -- and ISAF should get you both a NATO ribbon and an OEF but you may have an OEF without and ISAF (didn't support the force/area or were before ISAF stood up in Afghanistan). USA and USMC tend to be straight fwd on who they support and what mission they were on, navy and USAF not so easy sometimes and while orders definitely help they are not always going to be enough more than half of mine say deployed to site x y or Z and very little else-- that why a good command letter sent before you leave the deployment is the best for ensuring credit-- because then you can say what you did- who you did it for or where.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 30 at 2015 2:55 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 14:55:38 -0400

Same Theatre but different countries or named operations within the same theatre. ISAF is just a named for an organization or command

Response by COL Ronald Diana made Oct 31 at 2015 10:21 AM

COL Ronald Diana — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 10:21:11 -0400

Iraq (OIF) is a separate theater then Afghanistan (OEF). ISAF is part of Afghanistan. In my book two separate theaters of operation under one Combatant Commander. The press would say the each one of these theaters is a separate war. They would be wrong on that account.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 2 at 2015 11:05 AM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 11:05:39 -0500

OIF and OEF are not only different theaters, they are different wars. ISAF is an organization NOT a theater of operation

Response by 1SG Robert Bodeman made Nov 8 at 2015 11:29 PM

1SG Robert Bodeman — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 23:29:45 -0500

I, myself before RETIRING 35 YEARS, 7 COMBAT TOURS will tell you this, YES, ALL 3 mentioned is in facted 3 DIFFERENT OPERATIONS, 3 different countries, if any one tells you different, then ask them what type of DRUGS are you taking, because it's not working or it's the wrong drugs

Response by SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 12 at 2015 6:33 AM

SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 06:33:06 -0500

They are considered the same theatre of operations because they were lumped under the Global War on Terrorism and ISAF was a NATO led security force

Response by CPL Jay Freeman made Nov 12 at 2015 10:11 AM

CPL Jay Freeman — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 10:11:40 -0500

I was in Iraq with oif and oef they did a change over the year 8 was there it started as operation induring freedom then went to operation iraqi freedom so area of operation just 2 diffrent agendas

Response by CPO David Sharp made Nov 29 at 2015 7:29 AM

CPO David Sharp — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 07:29:24 -0500

OIF and OEF are both AORs but are in the Southwest Asia region. ISAF is a combined unit identification involved with OEF. This is my understanding to your question.