Leading up to deployment, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (Ike CSG) was expecting to spend the majority of its time in the U.S. Sixth Fleet, operating with partners and allies and expanding NATO relations—perfectly timed, as 2024 is the 75th anniversary of NATO. However, the deployment changed abruptly after the 7 October terrorist attack by Hamas into Israel. Since then, the Ike CSG has been involved in the most combat action in defense of the strike group and freedom of navigation since World War II.
As I write in early June 2024, the Ike CSG has been in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Gulf for more than seven months (and has been extended twice). In that time, we have flown more than 13,000 sorties totaling 29,500-plus flight hours. Each of the strike group’s ships has steamed in excess of 65,000 nautical miles. Most notably, our aircraft have expended more than 80 air-to-air missiles and released more than 350 air-to-surface weapons, and our ships have launched more than 100 Standard and Tomahawk missiles. This is all against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who are menacing civilian merchant shipping, including using antiship ballistic missiles against these noncombatants.
U.S. and coalition vessels also are being targeted. We have to be right 100 percent of the time, but the Houthis have to be right only once.
This deployment has been unprecedented in every sense of the word. Our operations in the Red Sea have included a long list of “firsts,” and while we are still learning and iterating, with every missile and unmanned system we engage and destroy, we are gaining important combat experience that will help inform future conflicts. The following are a few rough thumbnails of what has kept us in the fight against an unpredictable adversary.
Composite warfare. One of the keys to our success has been applying the composite warfare commander (CWC) construct over a distributed area of operations. Rather than being focused solely on a defensive screen around the carrier, my warfare commanders run their domains across the CSG’s wide area of operation. The destroyer squadron commodore, for example, is largely focused on moving destroyers across the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden to maximize their combat potential, while the integrated air and missile defense commander works consolidated area defense for the entire sector in which our task force operates, hand in hand with coalition partners and the Combined Air Operations Center. The CWC structure allows for highly integrated planning at the fleet and strike group level, but with execution delegated and distributed across the force. Unit commanders are entrusted to conduct their missions and maneuver tactically by way of mission command.
Warfare is constantly evolving. We experienced this firsthand as the Houthis adopted different methods to locate and target specific ships. In battle, when Houthi missiles and attack drones are flying in salvos and swarms, the problem is too complex and too fast for one person to manage. Instead of having to ask permission for “batteries release,” each commander in the strike group knows my intent and is empowered to act appropriately. I trust these leaders to act decisively, and I will always have their backs to support their actions and decisions.
Operating in a weapon engagement zone. Since arriving in Fifth Fleet, we have been fixed on the task before us: Stop the threat to innocent lives and freedom of navigation from the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen. To do that effectively, the Ike CSG has sustained combat operations in the weapon engagement zone (WEZ) for more than half a year. We have to operate there to disrupt the kill chain and degrade the Houthi capabilities. There is no sanctuary because we are operating organically without joint forces.
Antiship ballistic missiles (ASBMs) are deadly, and they have not been used in combat until this conflict. Our destroyers have shot down several ASBMs that were inbound to the strike group or other vessels. When an ASBM, cruise missile, or unmanned system is already airborne, its speed and flight profile allow very little time to react. It is best to stop the threat before it is launched. By using organic assets (air wing, intelligence, etc.) and inorganic support (national technical means, MQ-9 Reaper, etc.), we have been able to conduct self-defense strikes against these threats to U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels.
Defense in depth ensures the strike group minimizes the risk of detection and targeting while operating inside the adversary’s WEZ. It starts with a clear understanding of the battlespace. Recognizing what we know and what the adversary knows about us is imperative to maintaining a competitive advantage.
Extensions. The Ike CSG departed Norfolk, Virginia, in October 2023 on a planned seven-month deployment. While the Chief of Naval Operations advocates keeping deployments to seven months in consideration of personnel tempos and maintenance schedules, the world obviously gets a vote. Houthi aggressions have required the Ike CSG to remain on station longer than anticipated. To be frank, no one was surprised when extensions kept us at sea beyond those seven months. The last three East Coast CSGs were each extended on deployment, averaging 8.7 months. The Ike CSG is exactly where it needs to be.
Air wing employment. Carrier Air Wing 3 has been the Ike CSG’s backbone. The “Battle Axe” team believes there should be no weak links in the chain, so its leaders look at every part of every squadron to see if we can do more with what we have.
We have reaped benefits in Advanced Antiradiation Guided Missile employment from the EA-18G Growlers, Hellfire employment from MH-60Rs, command and control in support of dynamic targeting from the E-2C+ Hawkeyes, and alert postures of 60 minutes or less as the norm.
For those marveling at that last statement, remember we have been within the WEZ for most of this deployment. We have had to be ready to defend not only ourselves, but also anyone within range, as we have been facing an adversary with no respect for international law or the rules-based order.
Training: Take it seriously. Different adversaries require different tactics. The Ike CSG trained to be agile, flexible, and lethal. From the Tailored Ship’s Training Availability/Final Evaluation Problem, to Group Sail, Air Wing Fallon, and Composite Training Unit Exercise, we were put through the wringer with world-class training, and it shows. I attribute our success in the Red Sea to the predeployment training we received, especially the innovative approach to combat readiness. Future deployers would benefit from incorporating more unmanned (air, surface, underwater) scenarios in the training continuum.
Logistics. Logistical support is critical, and it requires a great deal of coordination to support dynamic and distributed maritime operations. Getting gas, food, parts, and mail has been essential to keeping the Ike CSG in the fight for months on end. Expeditionary reloads to replenish ordnance was one of the evolutions we had to figure out in real time and on station.
In coordination with fleet logistics experts, Military Sealift Command (MSC) has kept our ships sailing, our planes flying, and our weapons launching in self-defense. It was a great proof of concept to see MSC’s combat logistics fleet remaining on station to refuel us as they were refueled through a series of consolidated cargo operations with MSC-chartered tankers. We have kept on station longer, at peak readiness, because of the logistic support we receive. These lessons can be applied to any CSG deployed to any theater.
MSC delivers. Our success is shared with every single civilian mariner on the combat fleet logistics ships and chartered tankers.
Battle force warriors. These men and women are our secret weapon. Defending freedom of navigation is not something achieved by a single aircraft, weapon, or ship. It is the effort of the 7,000 people who make up the strike group, who maintain and operate the equipment, who make the weapons work, who take care of their fellow sailors.
When the chips are down and peak readiness must translate into maximum performance, all the preparation, integration, and experience of our people is what we depend on to ensure we are more than the sum of our parts—we are a carrier strike group the likes of which has not been seen in decades. We are battle hardened, and we are combat ready.
For Those Who Come After
The threats we are combating in the Red Sea are not unique to the Houthis. Lessons from this historic deployment will be used to address antiship capabilities across the fleet, including against pacing threats identified by the Department of Defense. That is why for every engagement we prosecute, every missile we detect, and every UAV we see flying, we send that data to the experts ashore, so they can analyze and make improvements for the next deployers.
Maintaining freedom of navigation in a contested waterway against any adversary is no easy task. There is no off-the-shelf plan that shows a strike group how to accomplish it. It takes innovative thinking, situational awareness, and an honest assessment to counter threats as significant and consequential as those currently impeding lawful international maritime activity in the Red Sea. So far, the Ike CSG’s sustained operations in defense of the seas is what right looks like. We hope to leave something for those who will come after us to guide them when a conflict like this arises again, regardless of where around the world it occurs.
