Latest news with #USSAbrahamLincoln
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Marine Aviator Describes Historic F-35 Combat Sortie in Mission Against Yemen's Houthis
After Maj. Zachary Sessa launched his F-35C Lightning II's payload at Houthi weapons storage facilities in Yemen last year, the historical significance of the flight dawned on him. Nearly a year ago, Sessa deployed with the Marine Corps' first F-35C unit aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln bound for the Pacific. But with less than a month out of port, the Pentagon ordered the carrier strike group to the Middle East as Iran-backed Houthis continued to attack shipping vessels in the region. The physical redirection also constituted a mental one for the troops aboard the strike group. Having spent their pre-deployment expecting to train in the Pacific amid escalating tensions with China in the region, air-to-surface combat near contested Middle Eastern waterways quickly settled in as the new reality as they steamed westward. Read Next: Tricare West Region Patients Get Another Extension on Specialty Care Authorizations By early November, just four months after the group left the West Coast, Sessa was in the air leading the first combat missions the Marine Corps' stealth fighter had ever participated in -- missions that would lead to top aviation awards for him and his squadron. Sessa, 33, of Butler, Pennsylvania, comes from a long line of aviators, with his father having flown the A-7D Corsair for the Air National Guard and his grandfather, a Marine veteran, flew commercial aircraft. He reflected on the November combat sorties in an interview with last week, not initially expecting to complete them when he first left port from California last summer. As the Marine Corps' first F-35C weapons and tactics instructor, or WTI, Sessa found himself as a keystone for the mission, helping train 15 critical aviation personnel over the course of a year. But soon after they left San Diego's port in July, Sessa was on the Lincoln preparing to launch under cover of the dark night. He was moving around the tight flight deck, "praying that everyone's aircraft starts up properly" and connecting with his wingman as they readied their machines headed for Houthi territory and a notch in aviation history. It started out feeling like any other training mission, he said, "but there's obviously a transition at a certain point where it's like, 'OK, we're executing real-world combat operations now; there's no room for errors at this point.'" The Houthis have used missiles and drones to attack shipping vessels in areas such as the Red Sea. The group has shot down upward of a dozen or more U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones since Hamas' deadly surprise attack on Israel in 2023, which plunged the region into chaos and emboldened the Yemen-based Houthis. While Sessa did not specify the threats he might encounter on the sortie, he said accompanying intelligence departments briefed him on the number and locations of said threats and was confident in those assessments amid the "unknowns" common to any combat flight. He remembered saying: "We understand what the threats are, we have a solid plan to mitigate it, and we can meet mission success within the exceptional level of risks that we've been given." Those elements, as well as the safety of his wingman, were on his mind as he launched into the dark sky, his ordnance bound for Yemen where Houthi weapon storage facilities were and continue to be a common target for American military operating in U.S. Central Command. After he released his payload, he saw his target explode. He saw his wingman's target explode. It was then that he allowed himself a "very fleeting moment" of self-reflection, knowing the mission was not complete until the aircraft was back on deck. "This is a pretty significant piece of Marine Corps history that we're executing right now. And we made it here. So let's get the job done. Let's get our aircraft back to the ship safely," he remembered thinking. "This is pretty surreal," he continued. "We're so far away from home and just doing something that most people probably don't even know is going on. Most Americans don't know what's going on." Back on deck, there was no "Top Gun"-level fanfare. For the most part, it was business as usual: post-mission maintenance, chow, "tape review" of the targeting. But there was indeed a buzz as the other mission commander congratulated Sessa and ordnance Marines rushed excitedly to open the weapon bay doors to see whether the munitions they had loaded onto the jet were still there -- they weren't. The unit redeployed on Dec. 14 after five months at sea and before President Donald Trump's administration launched an "intense and sustained" targeting campaign against the Houthis in March of this year under codename Operation Rough Rider. Since then, the scope and scale of this new, ramped-up operation has been unclear, with U.S. Central Command offering rare details throughout and often citing "operational security." Sessa said his squadron, Fighter Attack Squadron 314 out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California -- also known as "the Black Knights" -- nominated him during the deployment for the Alfred A. Cunningham Award, named after the service's first aviator and is a recognition for the Marine Aviator of the Year, the service said in late April. He will be honored in a ceremony in Dallas, Texas, this month and said: "I would not have received this award had we not had the squadron that we did, the Marines that we did, the fellow aviators that we did." The Black Knights were named Marine Fighter Attack Squadron of the Year as well. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Davis, who served as the commanding officer of VMFA-314 until March, said in an emailed statement that Sessa's participation in the sorties was historic. "Maj. Sessa's integral role in unprecedented combat strikes, and his contribution to mission success is a testament to his leadership, experience, and proficiency, forever etched in Black Knight history," he said. Related: Marine Corps Drone Team Competitions Are Coming to a Unit Near You Soon
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Institutional Failure or Societal Shift?
My heart is racing as I sit in my fighter squadron's ready room refreshing my computer screen. It's 3 a.m. on the USS Nimitz in the North Arabian Sea. The connection is slow and fragile, and I pray it will hold long enough to confirm the operation was successful. I'm nervous as the image finally downloads—and then I stand and shout with joy. My life has changed, but I don't yet realize quite how, or that I'll soon be leaving the military. The operation in question that night wasn't military. It was a C-section. My wife delivered our son while I was on an aircraft carrier on the other side of the world. Most veterans have experienced something like this, and service members knowingly accept time away, hardship, and the possibility of death to protect the Constitution. In exchange they receive honor, social mobility, and life-enhancing skills unattainable elsewhere. The all-volunteer force depends on this bargain. But the bargain is no longer working for many of today's officers, who are laying down their arms in alarmingly high numbers—and no policy change or incentive seems able to stop it. This is especially true in naval aviation, where I flew as an F/A-18F Super Hornet weapons systems officer. This is not a crisis-revealing institutional failure but rather a natural reflection of America's changing character. The military is trying to catch up to a changing society and has become an awkward third wheel in the evolving relationship between people and the state. The Navy is suffering the most from the military's recruiting and retention crisis, despite some encouraging new numbers. There are too few ships, sailors, and flight crews to sustain the many operational commitments assigned by the competing regional 'combatant commands.' Defense-focused publications offer a steady stream of warnings that only immediate, proactive reform can save the institution. It seems the Navy, as former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert O. Work lamented in 2021, is nearly broken. Like me, many of my colleagues had aspired to fly fighter jets since youth but searched for the exits after multiple stints in the South China Sea or Middle East. Our families lost steam for the deployments and grinding pace necessary to earn command of a ship or squadron. It was the classic tension of military life. Frequent deployment extensions were (and are) extremely frustrating. In 2019 the USS Abraham Lincoln set a new record for longest deployment since the Cold War as its policy-prescribed seven-month cruise extended to 10. COVID-19, combined with the first Trump administration's twilight objectives in the Middle East and Somalia, caused extensions of multiple ships including the Nimitz, which set an even newer record on the longest cruise since Vietnam. Defense of Ukraine prompted the extension of the USS George HW Bush in 2023. USS Carl Vinson and Harry S. Truman were both recently extended to support operations against the Houthis. For my family, it was much easier to blame the Navy for being broken than to admit that our needs were changing. The high operational tempo is a contributing factor to dissatisfaction, but there have always been long deployments, and they have often been lethal. Each deployment record set by a carrier during my career was caveated as being the longest since a previous cruise, not the longest ever. Time away is hard but it is typical of U.S. military life. 'Today's retention crisis is not merely a byproduct of increased deployments or civilian competition but reflects a fundamental shift in the values and priorities of younger Naval Aviators,' explains Dr. Bill Sherrod, a former aviator now spearheading retention research. He has collected an impressive body of evidence showing that there is 'stark mismatch' between what young aviators expect of their experience and the reality of military life. More strikingly, Sherrod notes disillusionment with 'a rigid career path that offers little autonomy.' Disillusionment contributes to a mistrust of leadership and, ultimately, the institution of the Navy. Service members are seeking something in the U.S. military that they cannot find. They are seeking freedom of choice. It is not the military that has changed, but rather people's expectation of what the government is meant to provide. There is no more fundamentally American value than freedom of choice. Millennial and Gen Z professionals' quests for work-life balance, job-track customization, and creativity are well documented. Yet choice is a right largely surrendered in the traditional bargain with the military. Resultant retention issues were foreseen a decade ago. A friend of mine encapsulated the search for agency in his military career when he told me, 'I was born for creative and iterative problem solving. I am going to get out of the Navy because I can only do that kind of work on the outside.' We may be transitioning to the 'market-state,' a concept proposed by influential constitutional scholar Philip Bobbitt, in which the legitimizing role of the government is to provide freedom of choice for its citizens. This is a natural evolution from the 'nation-states' that existed to provide collective security and well-being. With no real existential threat, it follows that citizens seek defense not from war but from structural limitations. This yields a new bargain between the citizen and state where the service member might offer the same hardship and risk in exchange for tailoring one's own military career track while maintaining work-life balance. In this regard, young officers' search for balance is neither a sign of weakness nor a crisis. The declining appeal of the traditional military career is apparent in the growing distinterest in command positions. Commanding a ship or squadron is the crown jewel of the traditional bargain between the state and its service members, with its promise of honor, prestige, and status. It has traditionally been a career apex and the object of intense competition. Yet younger officers aren't interested given the inflexibility that comes with that career path. Sherrod finds that only 31 percent of first-tour aviators aspire to command. To adapt to the expectations of the modern citizen, the military is faced with somehow enabling freedom of choice and work-life balance in a career that demands commitment to the point of potentially dying for the country. Bobbitt philosophizes on the military's conundrum when he asks, 'What strategic motto will dominate this transition from nation-state to market-state? If the slogan that animated the liberal, parliamentary nation-states was to 'make the world safe for democracy' … what will the forthcoming motto be?' I often heard officers swear that though their peacetime service felt rudderless, they would return to fight in a war against China. Fighting in a third world war held appeal, but training and deterrence didn't. Soldierly ethos, despite allegations to the contrary, are alive and well. In the traditional bargain, sacrifice of freedom was necessary to protect the nation. Only fear of a threat could justify such sacrifice in the market-state. The Navy has been competing in a pseudo-Cold War with China for well over a decade. But so far China doesn't elicit the emotional and collective response across society that the Soviet Union or al-Qaeda did. Each attempt to pivot the military toward deterring an invasion of Taiwan is stymied by a new crisis in the Middle East or noncommittal domestic politics. Decaying nation-states transitioning to something new are less equipped for prolonged strategic standoffs. There is still altruism in the American spirit, but there is diminished resonance in making the world safe for democracy. Yet the U.S. military is engineered to do just that. So far, no large-scale systemic changes to address officer retention have been implemented other than monetary incentives. Operational demands are consistently met despite extreme wear and tear on people and materiel. What to do next is dependent on how serious the U.S. is about growing the fleet. This is a complicated question as the defense tech industry explodes with revolutionary advancements in AI, unmanned systems, and mass production. Retaining young officers to operate legacy fighter jets and capital ships feels a bit like holding cavalry officers for the first World War. To credibly deter China with weapons currently in service, the Navy will need to retain more officers by engineering itself to produce freedom of choice. Sherrod recommends 'an AI-enabled digital talent marketplace' similar to those used by major tech companies to allow officers to customize their careers. This is a commendable step toward a new bargain. But the Navy is a lumbering institution. It will take time to fundamentally change how officers manage their careers. Even then, systemic institutional tweaks may not overcome the search for choice and the public's disinterest in war with China. More importantly, Sherrod recommends the implementation of a structured mentorship and coaching program to help young officers better understand the realities of military life and what to expect from continued service. Such a mentorship program can help newer service members understand and build trust in the institution without mandating massive structural change to the military's character. There is reason for hopefulness, at least in naval aviation. Many strong, intelligent, and talented officers remain on duty and at sea. Officers who endured the same familial strain over the same challenging sea time were undaunted and retained intense focus and enthusiasm for flying fighter jets. Some are now entering into their command tours with families steeled for another round of deployments. Officers like them ensure the military accomplishes its many missions, including the yearlong war in the Red Sea that received little public attention before the Signal incident. The traditional bargain is worth it to them. I met my son on a sunny February day at Naval Air Station Lemoore six months after his birth and nearly 11 since I had left home. My family began to lay the groundwork for a new life made possible by my military career. Thanks to prior enlisted service, I was just a few years from retirement even though I was only a mid-career officer. We decided we could get through one more tour, but that would be the end. I lived my dream of flying fighter jets for 13 years and since January have enjoyed life in Northern California with my family. All the bitterness evaporated when I realized that the military really hadn't changed. We had. I am confident the military will catch up, however slowly, to the evolving society it protects.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Navy destroyer helps apprehend 13 people for border security mission
The destroyer USS Spruance recently helped the Coast Guard and agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, take 13 people into custody as part of the ship's mission to bolster security on the southern border, according to U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM. The Spruance left San Diego on March 22 to assist U.S. government agencies assigned to combat transitional crime, piracy, illegal immigration, and other activities, a NORTHCOM news release says. An embedded Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment is aboard the Spruance during its border security mission. One day after getting underway, the destroyer used its radar to help the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter and a CBP interceptor boat interdict a suspect vessel, NORTHCOM wrote in a March 29 post on X. No further information was immediately available about what type of alleged illicit activity the 13 people apprehended by CBP agents are accused of doing. Since President Donald Trump issued an executing order in January directing the military to support the Department of Homeland Security on border security, more than 10,000 troops have either deployed or been approved to deploy to the region, including about 2,400 soldiers with the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. The Spruance, which is operating in the Pacific, is one of two Navy destroyers taking part in border security missions. The USS Gravely left its homeport of Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Virginia on March 15. The Gravely and Spruance are deployed to the waters off Mexico. According to Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, head of NORTHCOM, the warships' presence represents 'our resolve to achieve operational control of the border.' Prior to returning to its homeport of San Diego in December, the Spruance spent five months deployed with the strike group for the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, during which the Spruance and another destroyer, USS Stockdale, were attacked by Houthi drones and anti-ship missiles. Neither ship was damaged, and no sailors were hurt in the attack. A photo posted on the Spruance's Facebook page in January showing the ship's victory markings indicates that it had downed six missiles and seven drones during its deployment. Those 'Hegseth bodyguards' are actually there for the Air Force's 'Doomsday' plane Army wants junior officers to fix quality-of-life issues that drive soldiers out '100% OPSEC' apparently means texting military plans to a reporter Ranger School's new fitness test is tougher than ever, but nixes sit-ups This photo of Air Force special ops pool training is chaos. There's a reason for that.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pentagon orders second Navy carrier group to the Middle East
The U.S. military is sending the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group to the Middle East, as fighting with Houthi forces around Yemen reignites after a two-month pause. According to reporting from the Associated Press, the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group will end its current deployment in east Asia in the 7th Fleet's area of responsibility and head to the waters around Yemen. That will bolster American force projection in the region, as the ships will be joining the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group in the fight against Houthi forces around Yemen. That carrier group's deployment to the Middle East has extended another month, according to the Associated Press. The dual carrier deployment comes a week into renewed fighting between U.S. forces and the Houthis, a religious and Yemeni nationalist group that controls much of Yemen, including the capital city. Since October 2023, the group has launched rockets and drones at commercial ships passing through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, in response to Israel's war in Gaza. The U.S. Navy and Air Force have repeatedly intercepted those munitions and carried out bombing campaigns on Houthi-controlled areas. After a ceasefire was signed in January, the Houthis halted their attacks and the U.S. in turn stopped strikes on Yemen. That ended last weekend when the Truman Carrier Strike Group launched attacks on Yemen in response to the Houthis saying they would renew actions in the Red Sea. The Carl Vinson and its ships are expected to take two-three weeks to arrive in the Middle East. The last time two carrier strike groups were in the CENTCOM area of responsibility was in September. In August, previous Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln and its support ships to 'accelerate' to the Middle East to join the USS Theodore Roosevelt Strike Group as a deterrent to Iranian strikes against Israel after the latter carried out strikes in Lebanon and and Iran. The expanded naval presence was part of a wider increase in American military projection to the region. The Roosevelt and its strike group left in September. Along with its namesake carrier, the Vinson Carrier Strike Group includes a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser and two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, in addition to the aircraft that make up Carrier Air Wing 2. The Vinson and its strike group has been in the waters around the Korean Peninsula in recent weeks, visiting Busan and conducting drills and exercises with the Republic of Korea Navy, and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force following recent missile tests by North Korea. The Truman Carrier Strike Group entered the 5th Fleet's domain in December to support the fight against the Houthis and saw extensive action in the last weeks of 2024. It briefly left the Middle East for a port visit to Greece for repairs from a collision with a merchant ship, but has been back in the Red Sea. Its deployment was originally set to end at the end of this month. Fighters from Carrier Air Wing 1 took part in the newest strikes on Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen this month. In the previous months-long engagement against the Houthis, the U.S. Navy expended more than 400 munitions and sent multiple carrier groups and independent ships to the area around Yemen. President Donald Trump has pledged to 'completely annihilate' the Houthis in this latest fight, but a Pentagon spokesman has said that the now week-long conflict is 'not an endless offensive.' Arlington Cemetery website drops links for Black, Hispanic, and women veterans The Army wants to get the load soldiers carry down to 55 pounds Here are the latest military units deploying to the U.S.-Mexico border Why Washington state used M60 tanks to prevent avalanches Historic 'China Marines' battalion converts into latest Littoral Combat Team
Asia Times
08-03-2025
- Politics
- Asia Times
Abandoned by Trump, Ukraine still has the insurgency card
Days after United States President Donald Trump publicly humiliated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, the US paused military aid and cut off intelligence-sharing with Kyiv. Zelensky is now scrambling to salvage a deal with Trump, offering him Ukraine's rich natural resources even without a firm security guarantee. What if Zelensky is getting scammed? Trump is notorious for violating agreements, and so dealing with him is risky. Does Ukraine have a choice? As Trump ominously told Zelensky: 'You don't have the cards.' It's true Ukraine is the weaker party in the enduring conflict with Russia, but that doesn't mean it has to surrender its freedom, territory and wealth to foreign invaders. Even if Trump's deal turns out to be a con job, the Ukrainian people can still defeat Russia, and they can do it without America's help. If the absolute worst should happen, Ukrainian fighters could choose to play a different hand: insurgency. I have studied asymmetric wars around the world for 20 years, and insurgency is the ultimate death trap for foreign powers that invade weaker countries. Insurgencies reverse the asymmetry of conventional wars: the weaker player has the battlefield advantage, while the stronger party slowly bleeds out and goes bankrupt. This is not a scenario that anyone in Ukraine wants, but if Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin refuse to deal fairly with Zelensky, they may unwittingly unleash this hell upon the world. If it turns out the peace deal is a scam, Ukrainian fighters could be forced to switch from conventional to irregular warfare. How? First, as Russia rapidly advances, Ukrainian fighters would disband regular armed forces and form covert, decentralized militia units. They would hide all military and cash assets, and blend into local communities. Civilian clothes only. From the outside, it would look like the defending military has dissolved and given up. The invaders will foolishly believe they have achieved total victory. Insurgents do this to lure the enemy deeper into their territory and stretch them thin. They let them put up their 'Mission Accomplished' banners. They go to the invader's victory celebrations and applaud them. They ensure their invaders feel comfortable, and that overconfidence makes them lazy and careless. President George W. Bush declares the end of major combat in Iraq in May 2003 as he speaks aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the California coast. The war dragged on for many years after this photo was taken. Photo via The Conversation AP / J Scott Applewhite In the first year, insurgents lay low, develop covert networks and watch every move, every detail. Within six months, they know how the enemy takes his morning coffee, and they have a perfect record of the critical supply lines feeding the invader's army. They also join the enemy's puppet security forces, using this as an opportunity to gather intelligence and plan raids. The first phase is all about reconnaissance and infiltration. Time is the great advantage of the insurgent. Smart insurgents measure their success over the course of decades, not months. The fact is, counterinsurgency operations are exponentially more expensive than the cost of waging a successful insurgency, and so the longer insurgents can embroil the invader in their trap, the more the invader goes bankrupt. Insurgents allow invaders to spend tens of billions of dollars on pipelines and mining projects, and then they spend a few thousand dollars to blow up those investments. Or they co-opt those projects, tax them and use the revenue to destroy other enemy assets. Disorder is much easier to sow than order. Insurgents can play this game forever, while the invader drowns itself in futility and debt. Remember the Taliban's old adage: 'The Americans have all the watches, but we have all the time.' Conventional wars also typically have higher military casualties than insurgencies, so pivoting to irregular warfare will likely reduce soldiers' casualty rates. In three years, the Ukrainian military is estimated to have lost at least 70,000 soldiers in its conventional war. That's more than the Afghan Taliban lost in 20 years of insurgency. Holding a front line is a much bloodier business than blowing up a gas pipeline or supply convoy. Effective hit-and-run attacks are designed to keep insurgents alive, allowing them to blend back into civilian communities unnoticed. U.S. soldiers secure the area next to a damaged American protected vehicle after a roadside bomb explosion near Baghdad in March 2008. Photo: AP via The Conversation / Petros Giannakouris Unfortunately, because insurgents must blend into civilian populations to be effective, invaders typically retaliate by striking civilian targets, which may increase casualties. Russia would most certainly attack Ukrainian civilians, just as it is doing in the conventional war. But Ukraine's vast rural terrain makes it impossible for Russia to do to Ukrainians what Israel has done to Gazans. The Ukrainian landscape is comprised of expansive plains, forests and mountains in the west. Although it lacks jungles, a Ukrainian insurgency could deploy a combination of urban insurgency and guerrilla war tactics, using its vast rural territory to evade capture. Ukraine's territorial advantages and military capacity would make it very hard for Russia to successfully repress an insurgency like it did in Chechnya. Attacks on civilian targets also inevitably draw more people into insurgency, thus creating an ever-expanding crisis for the invader. Whether through drone or missile strikes, this strategy is known to make insurgencies worse over time. Putin will inevitably scream about Ukrainian 'terrorists,' but by then, Russia will be ensnared in the death trap. Nobody in their right mind would want to live in this grim and miserable future scenario. To avoid this calamity, Trump and Putin must realize that a Ukrainian insurgency could disembowel Russian power and destabilize Europe for decades. Unless they deal fairly with Zelensky today, they are gambling with European security, and playing a game where nobody wins. Aisha Ahmad is associate professor of political science, University of Toronto This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
