Definition of mission creep in US English:

noun

• A gradual shift in objectives during the course of a military campaign, often resulting in an unplanned long-term commitment.

  Example sentences

  • ‘Such mission creep should be expected; it has been part of virtually all U.S. involvement with complex Phase IV operations.’
  • ‘The mission statement and commander's intent were critical to the JTF's future efforts to ward off mission creep.’
  • ‘He denied that he saw any evidence of what the Pentagon calls mission creep.’
  • ‘Being prepared to conduct such operations will avoid a sense of mission creep when they inevitably have to be performed.’
  • ‘Providing artillery support to the ground troops is not mission creep.’
  • ‘It was mission creep, according to all those against, or an exciting challenge, according to our lads in Iraq.’
  • ‘Inevitably the British deployment has attracted concerns about our own mission creep - Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon admits that it is an ‘open-ended commitment’ and that reinforcements might be needed later.’
  • ‘While mission creep occurs during conventional military operations, the ramifications tend to be more significant during peace operations.’
  • ‘One may argue about the rationale for our presence in Somalia and about the dangers of mission creep, but once we're in a fight, we need to win it - and remain on the battlefield long enough to convince our enemies they've lost on every count.’
  • ‘One is the fear of the funded components (Reserve / National Guard) that mission creep of the militia would compete for funding with their own operations.’