This month, we look back on 2024 for insights and lessons from the operations, programs, and major developments in the Sea Services. The biggest story of the year was the Navy’s missile and drone battle in the Red Sea against the Houthis. Beginning with the USS Carney (DDG-64) and followed by others, the Navy boldly operated “inside the WEZ” (weapons engagement zone) throughout the year. In “U.S. Navy Year in Review” Rob Holzer and retired Navy Lieutenant Commander Andy Cichon write about everything from those Red Sea operations to recruiting, retention, and shipbuilding programs. In “U.S. Marine Corps Year in Review,” retired Lieutenant Colonel Wes Hammond writes, “The Marine Corps maintained the momentum it gained over the past five years . . .” but “Significant developments included growing questions about the readiness, availability, maintenance, and development of the amphibious ship force.” The biggest story in the “U.S. Coast Guard Year in Review” was the deadly allision of the container ship Dali with Baltimore’s Key Bridge last March. Retired Coast Guard Captain Joe DiRenzo and Commander Blair Sweigert recap that story and other challenges the Coast Guard faced. Navy Captain Matt Wright’s “U.S. Naval Aviation and Weapons: Year in Review” focuses in large part on the Dwight D. Eisenhower CSG combat deployment to the Red Sea and the many “firsts” the Ike’s deployment brought. In the “Global Maritime Industry Year in Review,” Shashi Kumar explains how the wars in the Black and Red Seas and market forces shaped the maritime industry last year.
In “Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy Underway, Gaining Speed,” former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti provides a progress report on efforts to increase lethality, raise readiness, and put more players
on the field.
We received 182 submissions to the 2024 General Prize Essay Contest—a new high-water mark. Navy Lieutenant (j.g.) Nicholas Danby won first prize with “Less Is More: The United States Must Stop Stretching Its Navy Thin.” Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Joel Rea took second prize with a provocative essay titled “A Forward Denial Defense Inside the First Island Chain” (pp. 32–36). And Navy Commander William Arnest won third prize with “Fix the Navy’s Expeditionary Repair.” We thank Andrew and Barbara Taylor for their generous support for our oldest and most prestigious essay contest. One of the top non-winning essays was Navy Commander Justin Cobb’s “There’s a Better Way to Fight from the MOCs”—timely given one of the NavPlan's top priorities is fighting from the maritime operations centers (MOCs).
Perhaps the most notable “first” of 2024 was the deft, daily use of social media by Captain Chris “Chowdah” Hill, the commanding officer of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), during combat operations in the Red Sea. Hill and Rear Admiral Kavon Hakimzadeh, Commander, Carrier Strike Group Two, tell the story of Chowdah’s becoming a social media icon in “Use Social Media in Combat”—and they suggest other commanding officers use social media to similar operational, tactical, and crew morale advantage. If you have not yet found Captain Hill on social media, just search for “Chowdah" Hill. He’s one of our favorite follows.
Editor's Note: When the print edition of the March issue went to the printer on 18 February, Admiral Franchetti was still the CNO.
