Carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower Returns Home Following Seven-month Fight With Houthi Drones, Missiles

July 20, 2024 5:09 PM
Commanding Officer Capt. Christopher “Chowdah” Hill greets his family after arriving home to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on June 14, 2024. USNI News Photo

ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER – “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Crue blasted through the ship’s speakers as Commanding Officer Capt. Christopher “Chowdah” Hill made his morning announcement.

Up on the flight deck, Lee Greenwald’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” and Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child of Mine” played while sailors performed their best air guitar and the 95,000-ton carrier slowly carried 4,000 sailors home up the James River.

For the last nine months, the ship’s company of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) has been almost entirely at sea. Now, the sailors could see the pier where their families and loved ones waited.

That morning, sailors gathered in their whites to man the rails and go ashore for only the third time since deploying in October. Sailors called loved ones as the ship got within range of the Virginia coast’s cell phone towers, and signal bars sprouted on their screens.

Others took photos celebrating the end of the nine-month deployment, most of which was spent on the Red Sea.

Ike’s leadership, including Hill, said the deployment was “unprecedented.” Hill and others aboard said it was the first time a U.S. aircraft carrier was under constant direct threat from an enemy since World War II.

Jets perform a flyover as sailors man the rails of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). USNI News Photo

The carrier initially deployed to maintain the U.S. presence in the Eastern Mediterranean as the Russian invasion of Ukraine rounded its second anniversary. Instead, the carrier and its accompanying destroyers and cruisers spent the majority of the deployment protecting commercial vessels heading in and out of the Red Sea – the gateway to the Suez Canal and Europe’s commercial ports – from Houthi missiles and drones.

Ike was the first aircraft carrier in two years to operate in the Middle East, with USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) departing at the end of the Afghanistan operations in 2021. Middle East deployments can be long, but unlike the ones during operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, Ike came under regular fire from an enemy ashore. That constant need to protect both the carrier strike group and commercial shipping meant a deployment with only two port calls instead of the six initially planned.

To combat the unexpected hardships, the crew introduced creature comforts to help sailors endure nine months at sea, including Wi-Fi to keep in touch with families, a therapy dog and an embedded integrated prevention coordinator – better known as the “life boss.”

“We were operating in a maritime area that was under the weapons range of the Iranian-backed militia for seven of those months,” Rear Adm. Kavon Hakimzadeh, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 2, told reporters Sunday as Ike sailed home. “Along the way, we employed the combat capabilities of every ship in a strike group to the maximum extent, using a lot of weapons for the first time ever, and … we’ve had sailors deal with the stress of operating under some really tense conditions for a sustained amount of time – for the first time since probably World War II.”

Rear Adm. Kavon Hakimzadeh, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 2, looks out the window from his seat on the flag bridge. USNI News Photo

Ike deployed on Oct. 14, one week after Hamas attacked Southern Israel. Israel launched retaliation strikes in Gaza the following day.

In November, the Houthis, a Yemen-based group that the U.S. State Department considers a terrorist organization, began attacking commercial ships that they claimed were tied to Israel. The Houthis said they would continue attacks until Israel’s bombardment of Gaza ended.

That prompted the U.S. and other partner nations to create Operation Prosperity Guardian for warships to protect commercial ones transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Instead of remaining in the Mediterranean as planned, the Ike CSG went to the Red Sea, where it joined USS Bataan (LHD-5) and USS Carter Hall (LSD-50).

Protecting the commercial ships meant that Ike and its escorts – USS Philippine Sea (CG-58), USS Gravely (DDG-107) and USS Mason (DDG-87) – also came under Houthi fire.

“The real stress came from the fact that the enemy got to decide when they wanted to shoot,” Hakimzadeh said. “So you certainly had to be vigilant against that every day.”

In late January and early February, the U.S. and the United Kingdom, with the assistance of several partner nations, launched the first strike on Houthi infrastructure in Yemen, prompting the Houthis to expand their list of targets to include U.S. and U.K. naval ships. Targets included Ike, as well as USS Laboon (DDG-58), Mason and USS Carney (DDG-64). Laboon and Carney are independent deployers, meaning they are not attached to a specific carrier strike group.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Secretary of Navy Carlos del Toro, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy James Honea flew on to Ike Saturday to talk to the sailors.

“Each and every Sailor was excited to finally be home, reunited with family and loved ones,” Honea told USNI News in an email. “They couldn’t wait to get back home to see and do all that they had missed for the last nine months, including the food they missed the most. Everything from cheeseburgers to fried chicken, to sushi, to pizza, or just anything my mom cooks.”

Franchetti, as well as President Joe Biden, also made announcements over the intercom.

“You’re part of the greatest navy – this is not hyberbole – the greatest navy any nation has ever, ever put to sea, and that’s not hyberbole,” Biden said. “That’s a fact.”

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti speaks to sailors in the hangar bay of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) on June 13, 2024. USNI News Photo

‘Unprecedented’ Deployment

Throughout the nine months at sea, Ike’s leadership often joked that every part of this deployment was unprecedented.

“It’s funny because it’s true,” Capt. Ted Pledger, the commodore of Destroyer Squadron 2, told reporters. “It’s my longest deployment, by far the most kinetic deployment. … It’s different in every way imaginable.”

Pledger’s previous deployments typically focused on deterring aggression or interoperability with partners. None involved coming under fire like this one, he said.

It’s the constant threat from the Houthis that prompts comparisons to WWII. The previous Middle East deployments – even conflicts in Vietnam and Korea – were land-based combat.

Red bombs outside of an air wing unit ready room indicate the number of ordinance dropped by the unit. USNI News Photo

In Iraq, fighters had to get close enough to see the white of the enemy’s eyes, Command Master Chief Stanley Ponder with the “Rampagers” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 83 told USNI News. This was his first deployment at sea, but he served multiple times with Marine Corps ground units in the Middle East. Seeing the enemy up close is nothing new to the United States, he noted, citing conflicts from the Revolutionary War to Vietnam. Fighting the Houthi drones and missiles meant fighting against a group that most sailors on the aircraft carrier couldn’t see, Ponder said.

“The Navy has become so good at what we’re doing, no one has dared to challenge us on the water since World War II,” he said.

The deployment’s operations tempo were the most dynamic that Carrier Air Wing 3 commander Capt. Martin Scott has seen in 24 years of naval service, he told USNI News.

“The comparisons to World War II I think are more in line with us operating underneath [a] weapons engagement zone, within close proximity to forces that were actively trying and had the capability to try and strike the carrier,” Scott said.

Ike’s crew typically launched 80 to 120 sorties a day, with some days reaching as many as 140, he said. In comparison, USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) launched up to 90 sorties a day in 2022 as part of NATO’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, USNI News reported at the time.

The Houthis would also fire missiles in the middle of the night, prompting the air wing to launch air operations.

The Houthis did not take weekends off, Ponder said. Neither did the air wing.

“I see these young warfighters look fear in the face every day and dare fear to move,” Ponder said. “I see them stare down things that could absolutely take their lives and they continue to do it without a shadow of a doubt.”

Facing the Houthis

DESRON 2 Commodore Ted Pledger has a water bottle with a sticker joking about the fight against the Houthis. USNI News Photo

Aviation Boatswains Mate Senior Chief Xavier Garcia thought he saw a shooting star as he stood on the flight deck. Or maybe it was a satellite. Then he heard the roaring of a jet, and he realized it was a Houthi drone that a plane from Ike intercepted.

Sailors often saw lights on the horizon when Ike’s aircraft countered Houthi drones and missiles, Garcia told USNI News. This was far from his first deployment – he served in the Iraqi Freedom operations.

In Iraq he knew the planes would leave the aircraft carrier and drop around 40,000 pounds of ammunition, but he couldn’t see it. Nor could he see the bombs fall.

Other than watching the explosions, his activities on the flight deck were typical. It was hot in the Red Sea and the Houthis’ firing tempo meant Ike’s crew had to remain on constant alert, since there was little time to prepare an aircraft launch if necessary. While he had some anxiety over timing, Garcia trusted the crew. He knew everyone was on their A-game.

“We train for this,” Garcia said. “We train a lot. I was confident we were not in real, real danger.”

The Houthis typically employ three weapons against naval and commercial ships: anti-ship cruise missiles, anti-ship ballistic missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles. Recently they’ve also introduced uncrewed surface vessels into the fight.

The Houthis started using anti-ship ballistic missiles – the more common of the anti-ship weapons – while the Ike was underway, Rear Adm. Marc. Miguez wrote in Proceedings while he served as the commander of Carrier Strike Group 2.

Aircraft from the Ike CSG launched at least 80 air-to-air missiles and 350 air-to-surface weapons against Houthi weapons and infrastructure between November and June, Miguez wrote last month. Miguez relinquished command on June 17. The ships in the strike group have launched more than 100 Tomahawk and Standard missiles.

As the Houthis modified their attacks, so did the carrier strike group, said Capt. Mitchell Finke, the information warfare commander.

Sailors with VFa-83 “Rampagers” play a card game. USNI News Photo

While Pledger never personally saw an engagement with a Houthi missile or drone, sailors described seeing them from the bridge. On the destroyers, it was more than visual, he said. There’s a visceral feeling when the vertical launching system fires a missile, Pledger said. When a missile launches, the rocket motor emits a bright light, Scott said. Then, when the missile hits the target, it explodes.

This was particularly true on March 9, one of the busiest days for Ike. U.S. Central Command, which puts out near daily news releases on activity in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, often does not identify which forces are involved in shooting down Houthi weapons or striking equipment. But a USNI News timeline of Red Sea activity based on the releases suggests aircraft from Ike shot down at least 28 uncrewed aerial vehicles over the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden between 4 a.m. and 8:20 a.m. Other U.S. Navy warships were also involved in taking down the drones, but CENTCOM did not publicize the ship names.

Scott said several dozen drones targeted Ike on March 9. The destroyers in the area and the air wing shot down almost all of them, while some fell into the water.

Hill was limited in what he could say about March 9 but told reporters the attacks happened during an abnormal flight window. Flight operations in response to Houthi attacks could happen at any time of the night or early morning, Hill said.

“And I will say that some of these cases, I was in my pajamas the whole time – and I’m not afraid to say that – with my slippers on. … I didn’t have time to put on my uniform,” Hill said.

Coordinated Disinformation vs. Taco Tuesday

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) Capt. Christopher “Chowdah” Hill looks at a screen as he helps navigate Ike home. USNI News Photo

When Hill deployed in October, he did not consider himself a social media person. By the time he reached home on Sunday, he was a semi-influencer, at least among the Navy and Ike CSG community.

Hill pushed for the introduction of Starlink for the sailors, which would provide WiFi capability so they could communicate with family back home. With Wi-Fi available, Hill started using social media, particularly X, the site formerly known as Twitter, to post about the sailors aboard his ship.

Even as the commanding officer, Hill is limited in what he can say about the ship’s operations, but focusing his posts on sailors was a safe way to put out details about the deployment.

Hill would invite sailors up to the bridge, where he would give them cookies and then share a message on X about the sailor.

“This machinist’s mate nuclear from Tucson, Arizona has been working hard to qualify in a new watch station. She is very proud of her mom and wanted to tell her that she’s doing a good job,” Hill wrote on July 8 with a picture of the sailor holding up a cookie.

Then, the Houthis, which have used social media to spread their messaging, found Hill’s X profile. And so began the subtle information warfare fight between Hill and the terrorist group.

Hill’s rule when it came to social media was not to engage with trolls, which appeared when the Houthis started targeting him on social media. He largely ignored them, continuing to post about sailors on the ship.

Then the Houthis claimed an attack on Ike.

“And I posted a meme about Taco Tuesday, my absolute favorite day of the week,” Hill said. “So Taco Tuesday sort of became a metaphor for pushing back against the enemy.”

On June 2, the Houthis claimed they put a hole in the side of the ship. Hill responded with a video of normal flight operations.

For Hill, his engagement on X didn’t change just because the Houthis targeted his ship on the internet. He continued doing what he always did: showing life on the carrier.

“I was just going about my business like everything was okay because everything was okay,” he said.

The Houthis’ disinformation campaign continued even as the ship sailed home. As the carrier left the Red Sea, the Houthis claimed to hit Ike, with some Houthi supporters sharing on X that the ship sank. Ike arrived unharmed and in one piece in Norfolk on July 14.

Staying Resilient 

Sailors wait as the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) makes its final preparations for arrival at the pier at Norfolk Naval Station. USNI News Photo

Electronics Technician 3rd Class Xavier Rochan left for his first deployment expecting to have several port calls. The nine months underway featured two.

The tempo of the Houthi attacks meant the CSG only made port calls with liberty in Souda Bay, Greece – once during the deployment and once on the way home.

The lack of port calls, along with a high operations tempo and two extensions, can put a damper on sailor morale. Sailors, some as young as 18 or 19 and on their first deployment, are already dealing with the stress of being away from home. And for many of them, all they saw day after day was the ship’s walls and the waters of the Red Sea.

“You ever see Groundhog Day? Exactly like that,” Rochan said of his time on Ike. “Monotonous, but it felt like home.”

For Rochan, the deployment was harder than he expected, but it was also rewarding.

“I thought I would be getting off the boat every month, seeing the world,” Rochan said. “I did get to see the world, if you count the Red Sea. And Greece.”

A sailor smiles after using her phone as USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) pulls into port at Norfolk Naval Station. USNI News Photo

For some, two port calls were more than they ever experienced. Sailors who were on their second deployment had their first during the COVID-19 pandemic, when ships could not go to any ports.

During the second port call on the way back to Norfolk many sailors said they just wanted to go home, according to Maureen Adams, the deployment resiliency counselor, also known as the “talk boss.” But after returning to the ship from Souda Bay, the sailors were refreshed and relaxed, she said.

Sailors would come to Adams to talk about a range of topics. Some were new sailors adjusting to life on a ship. Others came to talk about life events they might have to miss. Ike’s leadership tried to send people home for weddings or the birth of a child, but that wasn’t always possible. Sailor Jacob Card, for example, missed the birth of his son, whom he met for the first time on Sunday.

Adams was not on Ike for the entire deployment, but when she was there, she kept her office open almost all day so sailors could visit. The resiliency team also held a number of classes, including ones for stress and anger management. Family and Fleet Services also hosted classes on financial management.

Talk bosses are civilians. They serve as another resource available for the sailors, especially those who do not want to talk about mental health concerns with military members. The difference is they are also on the deployment with the sailors.

“We can help them access resources, even when we’re on land, that others might not, and give them just one more place or person” to go to for help, Adams said.

Having Wi-Fi on board has boosted morale, she said, and helped people keep in touch with their families. Sailors across Ike all praised the Wi-Fi for letting them text and FaceTime with loved ones.

Captain Demo stands at attention as Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro comes aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) on June 14, 2024. USNI News Photo

There were more resources on Ike focused on mental health, said Flag Independent Corpsman Bradley Stylley, who helped provide mental health services among his other duties as a hospital corpsman and chief petty officer. Ike’s medical team could take on cases from its escort ships, where there would be three providers for 300 to 500 sailors, Stylley said.

Depending on the person, the team could help them get back to duty or send them for specialty care. Stylley did not know exactly how many mental health losses Ike experienced during the deployment and a public affairs officer said the information was not available due to sailor privacy. USNI News previously reported that about 80 sailors on average separate for mental health issues during a carrier strike group deployment.

Sailors on their first deployment may have their morale crushed by the extensions, Stylley said, while more seasoned sailors are more accustomed to it.

When Stylley talked to sailors on the cruiser and destroyers, many talked about how the mission helped with morale.

“​​I think for a lot of the sailors, the fact that we were out making a difference, we can actually see real time where our mission was, rather than just global force for good, freedom of navigation where you don’t see the true impacts of your mission, I think that boosted a lot of morale,” he said.

The strike group set sail with a deployment resiliency team of chaplains, counselors, mental health professionals and health technicians, Honea said.

“What has proven to be most effective is having a good friend on board,” he told USNI News. “No one else understands better what we are going through than each other.”

Extend, and Extend Again

Sailors head to man the rails on USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) as it heads home to Norfolk, Va., on June 14, 2024. USNI News Photo

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Handling Enoch Haas knew when he left Norfolk that he would not return in the seven months initially planned for the deployment. There were already hints that Ike‘s time at sea would get extended.

Most sailors on the carrier shared his presentiments. The first extension, which didn’t come until early April, was expected before the ship left the James River in October.

The second extension hit harder, Le-Teiacesa Lewis, a quartermaster 2nd class petty officer, told USNI News.

“That one got a lot of people down,” she said.

Eisenhower is the fourth East Coast carrier strike group to have its deployment extended on orders from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin since Truman deployed from Norfolk in 2021.

In 2022, Truman stayed close to the Eastern Mediterranean, flying a regular drumbeat of sorties over Europe to deter Russia from expanding its invasion of Ukraine.

Following Truman’s 285-day deployment, the next three carriers – USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and Ike – were also extended to minimize gaps in carrier coverage in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The longest gap was between Bush and Ford, with Bush leaving in April 2023 and Ford arriving in June.

Having a carrier in the Middle East allows U.S. forces to launch strikes in Yemen from international waters without relying on an ally. The Wall Street Journal reported in May that the United Arab Emirates would not allow American aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles to strike targets in Yemen and Iraq from its Al Dhafra Air Base without prior notification.

Ike had back-to-back deployments in the Middle East because no East Coast carriers were ready to relieve it. With its three deployments since 2020, Eisenhower has been underway more than any other U.S.-based carrier in the last five years, according to the USNI News carrier deployment database.

Eisenhower’s longer deployments stem from maintenance and acquisition shortfalls that have forced the East Coast carrier force to shoulder more extensions. The late delivery of Ford to Navy service and subsequent testing mandated by Congress, as well as two additional years for the mid-life refueling and overhaul of USS George Washington (CVN-73), added pressure to the carrier force

To prevent a third extension for Ike, the Pentagon tasked West Coast-based carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) to the Middle East from the Western Pacific to provide air support for Operation Prosperity Guardian until Truman is ready to deploy from Norfolk later this year.

Petty Officer 1st Class Drew Holbert hugs his daughter after arriving home from a nine-month deployment to the Red Sea. USNI News Photo

For Rochan, expecting the extension was just a matter of looking at history. With all of the previous deployment extensions, the sailors aboard Ike knew they would likely be no different.

“In history, when has a carrier gone home on time?” Rochon asked rhetorically. “So we kind of saw the first one coming.”

The two extensions, as well as the history of deployments going longer than initially planned, left people hesitant to believe they would actually go home, Lt. Miguel Hernandez said. Even as the ship transited the Atlantic Ocean, some sailors believed the ship would have to turn around to respond to an emergency situation.

But by Sunday, everyone knew the deployment was finally coming to an end. Sailors whipped out their phones to take pictures as the Virginia coast became visible from the bridge and the flight deck.

The previous day was filled with sailors preparing the ship to return to its port. They greased cables on the flight deck. Others packed their berthing. Down in the hangar bay, sailors stored equipment.

They finished final preparations that morning, with boatswain mates readying the anchors while other sailors gathered on the flight deck. By the time the ship slowly pulled into Pier 14, a nervous energy ran through the hangar bay, where the first kiss line and new dads eagerly waited to leave the ship.

Families waited too. Some held signs. Others jumped and waved. Children, wives and loved ones all prepared to run into the arms of their sailors.

After nine months, Ike was finally home.

Heather Mongilio

Heather Mongilio

Heather Mongilio is a reporter with USNI News. She has a master’s degree in science journalism and has covered local courts, crime, health, military affairs and the Naval Academy.
Follow @hmongilio

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