Latest news with #OscarAustin
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
USS Oscar Austin crew accepts combat award for Red Sea deployment
The crew of the destroyer Oscar Austin received military decorations for providing combat support to U.S. naval forces in the Red Sea against Houthi rebels, according to a Navy release. Sailors and other personnel aboard the vessel were awarded Unit Combat Action Ribbons after completing Austin's first forward-deployed Naval Forces-Europe patrol in the U.S. Sixth Fleet and Fifth Fleet, which operate out of Europe and Africa, and the Middle East, respectively. 'I'm honored to have assumed command of Oscar Austin during her first patrol as a forward deployed warship,' said Oscar Austin Cmdr. David Nicolas. 'Having served previously as the ship's executive officer, I feel immense pride in witnessing the growth and development of the crew in their preparation for and completion of Patrol One.' The vessel briefly visited the Mediterranean before joining the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group as it battled missile and drone attacks from Yemen's Houthi rebels — an Iran-backed terrorist group — over several months. President Donald Trump's administration began conducting large-scale bombings against Houthi sites in Yemen on March 15, a shelling that ended in May after the U.S. claimed to have hit more than 800 targets. US strikes dozens of Houthi sites in Yemen as broader campaign begins Oscar Austin left its home base of Naval Station Rota, Spain on Dec. 11, 2024, to join the Republic of Cyprus National Guard and conduct signaling and maneuvering exercises alongside the Cyprus patrol vessel Commodore Andreas Ioannides. In April 2025, the Oscar Austin jointed Fifth Fleet operations, offering air and missile defense reinforcements to the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group and serving alongside the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers Jason Dunham and Stout, as well as the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser Gettysburg. Austin's efforts to defend the strike group while under fire from airborne threats notched the vessel's personnel Unit Combat Action Ribbons, which sailors proudly donned upon their return to Spain on June 10. The award is given to service members who participated in surface combat. Capt. Alexander Mamikonian, commodore of Destroyer Squadron 60, presented the crew with their ribbons. 'It was a pleasure watching them perform on patrol, but we're glad they're back home in Rota reunited with their loved ones,' Mamikonian said.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Crew of USS Oscar Austin awarded Combat Action Ribbons for Red Sea deployment
The USS Oscar Austin played a pivotal role as Houthi rebels fired hundreds of rockets and drones towards U.S. ships in the Red Sea this spring. Now, members of its crew from that fight will wear Combat Action Ribbons on their uniforms, the Navy announced Tuesday. The crew of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer were awarded a Unit Combat Action Ribbon Tuesday upon the ship's arrival at Naval Station Rota, Spain. As a result, all members of the crew who were aboard will be authorized to wear the Combat Action Ribbon on their uniforms. Commonly called a CAR, the ribbon can be a major source of pride among servicemembers, especially in an era where deploying to active combat is less likely than in previous decades. Oscar Austin, one of the Navy's newest ships, departed Norfolk, Virginia, Sept. 30, 2024, where it had been homeported since the ship was commissioned in 2000. In October, it pulled into its new home, Naval Station Rota, Spain, where it is now assigned to the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet, headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. As part of the USS Harry S. Truman strike group, the ship sailed into the Red Sea in April. There, the Austin provided air defense against rockets and missile attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen. On April 27, U.S. Central Command announced it had been conducting 'an intense and sustained campaign' targeting the Houthis since mid-March called Operation Rough Rider. Officials said they were 'intentionally' limiting details of the ongoing or future attacks but said they targeted command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities and weapons storage facilities with drones, ballistic and cruise missiles. While operating in the Red Sea, sailors were exposed to various airborne threats and 'acted swiftly and professionally,' according to a Navy news release. The crew provided air and missile defense against Houthi attacks on commercial ships transiting international waters. In May, the ship returned to the Eastern Mediterranean. 'Executing multiple missions across two theaters, Oscar Austin displayed the immense versatility of the Arleigh Burke class destroyer: from conducting ballistic missile defense in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to seamlessly integrating with the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group in the Red Sea,' Cmdr. David Nicolas, who took Command in May said in a release. 'But overall, it was the crew's grit and resiliency that fueled the ship's success throughout the patrol.' Along with earning the ship's combat award, six officers earned Surface Warfare Officer pins, 78 enlisted sailors got Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist pins. A Marine Corps reply-all email apocalypse has an incredible real-life ending Army shuts down its sole active-duty information operations command Army plans to close more than 20 base museums in major reduction Former Green Beret nominated to top Pentagon position to oversee special ops The Navy's new recruiting commercial puts the 'dirt wars' in the past
