Micaela Burrow
Daily Caller News Foundation
Reenlistments on the USS Carney destroyer spiked after the ship’s first engagement with attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen, a top Navy officer said, according to Military Times.
The Carney, along with other guided-missile destroyers, have downed dozens of drones and missiles in the Red Sea to protect international shipping from the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in recent months. When the Carney shot down missiles the Houthis appeared to launch toward Israel in October, the urgency and importance of the warship’s mission appeared to resonate with crew members, Cmdr. Jeremy Robertson, commander of the Carney, reportedly told Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, who formerly commanded the warship and is now the head of Naval Surface Forces, according to Military Times.
“[Robertson] told me that, two days after their first engagement, he had 15 reenlistment contracts on his desk,” McLane told Military Times. “I think this has something to do with the investment that we’ve made in [weapons tactics instructors], and the investment that we’ve made in developing a warfighting culture.”
“Our sailors are incredibly energized by being able to operate their weapons systems in the way that they are intended and seeing success in doing that,” he added.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have sought, sometimes successfully, to attack commercial vessels. Missiles and drones have also been aimed at U.S. Navy vessels. The Houthis say they are targeting Israel-linked vessels in response to the country’s war against Hamas in Gaza, but so far the attacks appear indiscriminate.
Experts and officers agree the Navy surface fleet is learning from the type and volume of engagements, which come at a pace unknown in modern history, according to Military Times. Destroyers have not participated in major gunfights since they were tasked with providing support during the Vietnam War, Jan van Tol, a retired forward-deployed warship captain and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said.
McLane did not say how the incidents have informed tactics or ongoing training, but added that the fleet is monitoring developments “very closely,” the outlet reported.
The real fight continues. BZ to both teams for playing a good game. 🤝 Until next year.
Hooyah USS Carney (DDG 64)!💥💥💥#GoNavy! #AlwaysForward#ArmyNavyGame2023 pic.twitter.com/zNrLqtN8TJ
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) December 9, 2023
“We have our warfare tactics instructors involved in analyzing the data that we’re getting from the tapes on the Carney and the other ships,” he said. “And we’re looking very closely at profiles and what we have to do when it comes to radar tuning. And what we have to do when it comes to setting up our weapons system on the ship to make sure that we have … maximum defensive capability at all times.”
The fleet is also wrestling with the cost differential of shooting down cheap drones and crude, Iranian-made anti-ship cruise or ballistic missiles with the expensive systems outfitted on destroyers.
“This is a mix we haven’t seen before, and it does represent a new wrinkle,” retired Vice. Adm. Robert Murrett, head of the Institute for Security Policy and Law at Syracuse University, told Military Times.
This story originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
IMPORTANT NOTE TO WND READERS: For America’s ruling elites, nothing is more precious, wonderful and life-giving to their great cause than the Jan. 6, 2021 “insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol. It’s irrelevant that the events didn’t come remotely close to constituting an actual “insurrection,” or that both police and over 200 undercover FBI assets provoked the riot – which Tucker Carlson calls a “set-up.” Yet Vice President Kamala Harris still insists the minor riot was just as horrific as the 9/11 terror attacks and Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
WHY are the elites doing this?
It’s not just because convicting, imprisoning, torturing and destroying the lives of hundreds of Trump supporters is meant to terrify and intimidate millions of Americans into submission. And it’s not just because activist judges and bureaucrats in over 30 states are absurdly trying to keep Trump off their state’s election ballots by citing the 14th Amendment’s prohibition against anyone who “engaged in insurrection” from holding elective office.
It’s because the elites’ destruction of America is so rapid, horrendous and obvious that they feel compelled to turn their opponents into monsters – or lose power at the next election. But that doesn’t mean just calling conservatives and Christians “racists,” “white supremacists,” “radical extremists” and “domestic terrorists” as they do continually. They know much more is needed.
Question: What if, far from being horrified by a half-baked riot they absurdly claim is worse than any domestic disturbance since the Civil War, the left actually LOVES the idea of violence on the right – the worse the better – since it perfectly serves their agenda? Increasingly, all the evidence strongly suggests today’s power-mad leftist elites not only intend to intimidate and discredit their political opponents by calling them terrorists, they mean to provoke actual violence.
The secret strategies and shocking tactics of today’s ascendant far-left elites are exposed as perhaps never before in the January issue of WND’s critically acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine, headlined “INCITING VIOLENCE: DEMS’ SECRET STRATEGY FOR STAYING IN POWER.”
WHISTLEBLOWER is available in both the popular print edition and a state-of-the-art digital version, either single issues or discounted annual subscriptions.
For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!
