ABOARD USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER IN THE RED SEA — The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower may be one of the oldest aircraft carriers in the US Navy, but it continues to struggle, despite repeated false claims of Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The Houthis and online accounts supporting them have repeatedly alleged that they crashed or even sank the aircraft carrier in the Red Sea while it is leading the US response to the attack. The continuous attacks by the rebels against commercial and warships. in the crucial waterway.
That has put their leader, Captain Christopher “Chowdah” Hill, and his social media profile squarely in what has become an increasingly bizarre Internet frontline as the campaign progresses. And although he ignores his publications, they represent the new level of information warfare that the Navy is having to wage as faces its most intense combat since World War II and attempts to keep the morale of the nearly 5,000 troops aboard the Eisenhower high and munitions ready as their deployment progresses.
“I think there have been about two or three times in the last six months that we’ve supposedly been sunk, and we haven’t,” Hill told The Associated Press during a recent visit to the aircraft carrier. “It’s almost comical at this point. Maybe they’re trying to get inspiration from misinformation, but it doesn’t work on us.”
The visit by two AP journalists and others to the Eisenhower represents part of the effort the Navy has made to try to counter the Houthis’ claims. While on board for about a day and a half, the journalists escorted by sailors toured the 332-meter (1,092-foot) length of the nuclear-powered ship. AP journalists also repeatedly surrounded the Eisenhower from the air in a Seahawk helicopter.
Aside from rust on its sides from the hot, humid Red Sea air and water apparently leaking from a pipe in a mess hall, the ship did not appear to be deteriorated. Her flight deck suffered no explosion damage or holes, just the stench of jet fuel, puddles of oily water, and the screeching of engines before her F/A-18 fighter jets took off.
The other half of the information warfare effort has been Hill himself, a native of Quincy, Massachusetts, something immediately noticeable in his South Boston accent. While even the Houthis’ secretive leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, has mentioned the carrier’s name in speeches while making false claims about the ship, Hill has relentlessly offered positive messages online about the sailors aboard it.
Videos of flight operations from the bridge and images of sailors eating cookies in the captain’s chair are a constant staple. After a false claim from the Houthis, Hill responded by posting images of cinnamon rolls and muffins in the bakery aboard the Eisenhower, a subtle jab at the claims.
“The overall intent of the social media outreach was to connect with families, bring them closer to the ship,” Hill said. “So if I can post pictures of sons and daughters, husbands and wives here, or even fathers and mothers, spread them around, that just brings the family closer to us. And again, that’s our support network. But I also took on another role because everyone else was watching to see what we were doing.”
Then there are the “Star Wars” memes and images Captain Demonstration, the Labrador-golden retriever mix that roams the ship as a support animal for the sailors. And as for the Houthi forces watching his posts, Hill takes special pleasure in writing about “Taco Tuesday” on the boat.
“We’re going to celebrate ‘Taco Tuesday’ because it’s my favorite day of the week. That will never end,” the captain said. “If you call that an information warfare campaign, you can do it. “It’s who I am, you know, at the end of the day.”
But morale remains a deep concern for Hill and other leaders aboard the ship. The Eisenhower and her allied ships have made only one brief port call during the eight-month rotation so far in Greece. The aircraft carrier has also been the most deployed among the entire U.S. fleet over the past five years, according to an analysis by the U.S. Naval Institute News Service.
One sailor, Lt. Joseph Hirl of Raleigh, North Carolina, wore a patch that said: “Go to the Navy, defeat the Houthis.” Although it is a play on the classic call for the annual football game between the Army and the Navy, the naval flight officer emphasized that he knew that the combat was very serious.
“The daily stress of knowing we’re being shot at definitely brings realism to the whole experience that this is not a normal deployment,” Hirl said.
Meanwhile, ammunition also remains a concern. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee in May that the Navy had spent at least $1 billion on weapons to fight in the Red Sea. All the leaders aboard the Eisenhower that the AP spoke to acknowledged that the Navy was trying to use the right weapon against the Houthis, whose asymmetric warfare requires them to use much cheaper munitions.
“My sailors, my ships are priceless; that’s not a calculation I want a captain to have,” said Capt. David Wroe, the commodore who oversees the guided-missile destroyers escorting the Eisenhower. “Now, using the appropriate effect weapon system in the appropriate place. The threat of preserving magazine depth and having more missiles is certainly a pertinent tactical issue.”
For now, the Eisenhower continues its patrol alongside the USS Philippine Sea, a cruiser, and two destroyers, the USS Gravely and the USS Mason. It has already been expanded twice. and there is always the possibility of it happening again. But Hill said his sailors were still willing to fight and he was still willing to remain a captain in his style.
“At some point in my career I came to the revelation that one of the things all humans need is to be loved and valued,” Hill said. “So as a leader, I shouldn’t be afraid to try to love and value everyone, and also expect other leaders I’m responsible for to love and value their Sailors.”
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