By Daniel DePetris
The sailors aboard the USS Carney, based in the Red Sea, had a busy weekend—one that could have just as easily turned deadly were it not for the professionalism demonstrated on the ship.
On Sunday, the Yemen-based Houthi group launched four attacks on international vessels transiting the waterway. Some of the ships were slightly damaged by ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-run areas of the country. The USS Carney not only witnessed some of the attacks but also shot down three drones in self-defense as it was responding to a distress call from the civilian ships. The entire episode lasted about five hours in what U.S. Central Command, the U.S. military headquarters in the Middle East, called “a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security.”
This piece was originally published in Chicago Tribune on December 5, 2023. Read more HERE.