1950 – 1953: The US wages the Korean War, one of the main Cold-War-era proxy conflicts between the US and the USSR. 
1958: Operation Blue Bat. The US sends forces to Lebanon to intervene in a domestic conflict there.
1961: US Navy and Air Force back anti-Castro exiles in their attempt to invade Cuba by landing in the Bay of Pigs.
1964 – 1973: US forces wage a 'secret war' in Laos. 
1964 – 1973: The US fights in Vietnam on the side of the South Vietnamese government. In the late 60s, its soldiers there numbered more than 500,000.
1969 – 1973: Operations Menu and Freedom Deal. US forces bomb and invade Cambodia. 
1965 – 1966: Operation Power Pack. Invading US forces topple a revolutionary government in the Dominican Republic. 
1982 – 1984: US forces take part in an international peacekeeping operation in Lebanon. 
1983: Operation Urgent Fury. Invading US forces topple a left-wing government in Grenada. 
1986: Operation El Dorado Canyon. US warships and jets bombard the Libyan capital Tripoli in response to an explosion in a Berlin disco. 
1986 – 1988: US naval forces intervene in the Iran-Iraq war. 
1989 – 1990: Operation Just Cause. US military invasion of Panama. 
1989: US forces help Philippine President Corazon Aquino suppress an attempted coup. 
1991: The First Gulf War. The US leads a UN-sanctioned international operation to liberate Kuwait from occupation by Iraq. 
1992 – 1995: Operation Restore Hope. US forces take part in a UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia. 
1994 – 1995: Operation Uphold Democracy. US forces conduct a UN-sanctioned operation to oust a military junta and restore a legitimate administration in Haiti. 
1995: Operation Deliberate Force. NATO air forces bomb the Bosnian Serbs. Two thirds of the missions were flown by US air crews. 
1998: Operation Desert Fox. US forces carry out air raids and rocket attacks against Iraq.
1999: Operation Noble Anvil (never sanctioned by the UN). US naval and air forces lead NATO’s air war against Federal Yugoslavia. 
2001 – present: War in Afghanistan. Started in response to the 9/11 attacks. 
2003 – 2011: Iraq war. US forces invaded under the pretext of derailing Iraq’s chemical warfare preparations. 
2011: Operation Odyssey Dawn. US forces help NATO bomb and rocket Libya. The NATO-backed Libyan rebels topple and kill President Muammar Gaddaf