Operation Inherent Resolve

Part of the Global War on Terrorism, War on ISIL, the War in Iraq, the Syrian Civil War

U.S. military F/A-18F Super Hornets of VFA-22 take off from USS Carl Vinson to support U.S. efforts for Operation Inherent Resolve in October 2014.

Date	Iraq: 15 June 2014 – present (2 years, 8 months and 5 days) Syria: 22 September 2014 – present (2 years, 4 months, 4 weeks and 1 day)
Location	Iraq and Syria
Result	Ongoing* Over 17,000 airstrikes launched on ISIL and al-Qaeda positions in Iraq and Syria * Humanitarian efforts conducted* Arming and support for local ground forces * ISIL loses tens of thousands of troops, thousands of vehicles, and 25–30% of its territory in Iraq

Belligerents

United States

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

al-Qaeda

Ahrar ash-Sham
(intentionality disputed)

Commanders and leaders

Donald Trump (President, 2017 - present)

Barack Obama (President, 2014-2017)

James Mattis (Secretary of Defense, 2017 - present)

Ashton Carter (Secretary of Defense, 2015 - 2017)

Chuck Hagel (Secretary of Defense, 2014 - 2015)

General Joseph Votel (CENTCOM Commander, 2016 - present)

General Lloyd Austin (CENTCOM Commander, 2014 - 2016)

Lieutenant General Stephen J. Townsend (Commanding General CJTF-OIR)

Major General Gary J. Volesky
(Commander of Ground Forces CJTF-OIR)

Major General Scott A. Kindsvater
(Deputy Commander-Operations and Intelligence CJTF-OIR)

Major General Rupert Jones (Deputy Commander-Strategy and Support CJTF-OIR)

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Leader of ISIL)
Abu Alaa Afri †
(Deputy Leader of ISIL)
Abu Mohammad al-Adnani † (Spokesperson)
Abu Ayman al-Iraqi † (Head of Military Shura)
Abu Muslim al-Turkmani † (Deputy Leader, Iraq)
Abu Ali al-Anbari † (Deputy Leader, Syria)
Abu Omar al-Shishani † (Field commander in Syria)

Abu Mohammad al-Julani (Leader of the al-Nusra Front)
Abu Humam al-Shami †
(al-Nusra Military Chief)
Abu Mohammed al-Ansari †
(al-Nusra Emir of the Idlib province)
Ahmad Salama Mabruk † (al-Nusra senior commander)
Abu Firas al-Suri † (al-Nusra chief spokesperson)
Abu Hajer al-Homsi † (Top al-Nusra military commander)
Muhsin al-Fadhli † (Leader of Khorasan)
David Drugeon †

Abu Jaber †

Abu Yahia al-Hamawi (2015–2016)

Ali al-Omar (2016 – present)

Units involved

Elements of:

ISIL army

Strength

United States:

4,400 troops (in Iraq)
2,500 troops (in Kuwait)
7,000 contractors
USS George H.W. Bush carrier strike group
USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group (replaced USS George H.W. Bush in late October 2014)
USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group (replaced USS Carl Vinson in late March 2015, departed in October 2015)
USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group (replaced USS Theodore Roosevelt in December 2015)
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group (replaced USS Harry S. Truman in June 2016, departed in late December 2016)
USS George H. W. Bush carrier strike group (replaced USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in February 2017)
F-15 Eagle, F-16 Falcon, F/A-18 Hornet, F/A-18 Super Hornet and F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft
AV-8B Harrier II & A-10 Thunderbolt ground-attack aircraft
B-1 Lancer bomber aircraft
Lockheed AC-130 gunships
EA-6B Prowler & EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft
Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft
Lockheed U-2, Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint STARS & Boeing RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker & McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender refueling aircraft
Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters
MH-60M Black Hawk multi-mission helicopters
MQ-1 Predator & MQ-9 Reaper unmanned ground-attack aircraft
RQ-4 Global Hawk & Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned surveillance aircraft

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant:

Between 9,000 to 18,000 (U.S. intelligence estimate, January 2015)
Between 20,000 to 31,500(CIA estimate, September 2014)
200,000 (Iraqi Kurdistan Chief of Staff estimate)
3 MiG-21 or MiG-23 aircraft
At least 600 tanks
At least 5 Drones

al-Qaeda:

al-Nusra Front: 10,000
Khorasan: 50

Ahrar ash-Sham:

10,000–20,000

Casualties and losses

United States:

6 KIA 11 servicemen killed (non-combat) and 16 wounded
6 civilians killed
(5 executed and 1 unknown)
1 F-16 crashed and 1 F-15 damaged
1 MQ-1 Predator Drone shot down by the Syrian Air Defense Force