The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group redefined how the U.S. Navy performs its highest level pre-deployment integration exercises, achieving countless ‘firsts’ for naval aviation throughout its time in the Red Sea fighting Houthi drone swarms and anti-ship ballistic missiles.
Through late 2023 into 2024, the USS Eisenhower (CVN 69), a Nimitz-class participated in sustained combat operations in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in support of international shipping and freedom of navigation. Accompanying the carrier were the ships of Carrier Strike Group 2 (CSG 2) which provided escort, alongside a number of independently deployed Arleigh Burke-class destroyers deployed to the region throughout the end of 2023.
The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKECSG) finished its final preparations for deployment in early October 2023. It left for 6th Fleet just seven days after the start of the Israel-Hamas War, delayed 24 hours to “ensure the ship was at peak readiness”.
The Strike Group centered around the Eisenhower, led by Captain Christopher “Chowdah” Hill. Captain Hill, a former E-2C Hawkeye flight officer, had taken command of the Eisenhower seven months prior. It undocked from Pier 14S at Norfolk Naval Station on a cloudy Saturday morning.
Embarked on the Eisenhower was Carrier Air Wing 2 (CVW 2) with Captain Mitchell “Bomber” McCallister in charge (Captain Marvin “Starvin’” Scott would replace Captain McCallister in December). CVW-2 is affectionately known as the Battle Axe.
Four escorts sailed with the carrier. The USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), USS Laboon (DDG 58), USS Mason (DDG 87), and USS Gravely (DDG 107), leaving periodically to meet up with the Eisenhower off the east coast of the United States. Every ship had trained together in the U.S. Navy’s premier combat simulation—Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX)—which trained crews wargame scenarios that could be seen in 6th Fleet and 5th Fleet.
While the crew didn’t know it at the time, it was the start of a historic deployment. Not just for the IKECSG, but the entire U.S. Navy.
A Change of Plans
A week into sailing, in the middle of the Atlantic, the sailors and airmen of IKECSG learned of the news. The admiral and captain announced it on the 5MC. Their highly anticipated port call to Split, Croatia was cancelled. So were their plans for a ‘simple’ 6th Fleet cruise. The Yemen-based Houthi terror group had announced a new mission to close shipping lanes through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait (known to sailors as the Gate of Tears) to any Israeli-allied merchant vessels.
Sailors onboard the USS Carney (DDG 64), an Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyer attached to the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG), were already engaging missiles and drones in the Red Sea. Carney stayed behind the rest of the GRFCSG. It was now defending itself—and merchant vessels in the surrounding area—from Houthi attacks that threatened the lives of civilian sailors and the crew of the Carney itself.
The Pentagon didn’t approve of its sailors, international merchants, and allies being put in harms way. The Secretary of Defense ordered the IKECSG to the Middle East ‘at best speed’. Any last hope of the ‘simple’ 6th Fleet deployment was dashed.
The Eisenhower acknowledged and made best speed for 5th Fleet, crossing through the Strait of Gibraltar on October 28th just two weeks after it left port in Norfolk. The Eisenhower participated in a PHOTOEX with the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) as it departed the Mediterranean, passing by the departing GRFCSG on its way to the area of interest. By then, more ships had joined in on the action, including the USS Stethem (DDG 63), a San Diego based guided missile destroyer.
24 hours after its PHOTOEX with the Ford, the Eisenhower was in the Suez Canal. It sailed south and CVW-2 began flying combat operations as part of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) the same week. It sailed through the Gate of Tears—the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait—to the Gulf of Oman and North Arabian Sea, leaving a few escorts behind in the Red Sea to help the Carney defend merchant vessels.
The attacks picked up as the Eisenhower‘s 36 hour Thanksgiving port call in Duqm, Oman drew to a close. But the Eisenhower didn’t go back to the Red Sea. It sailed through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf. The Battle Axe performed strikes on Iranian-backed militia groups in the Middle East through mid-December, responding to an attack that injured three U.S. servicemembers.
Around Christmas, the decision was made to cancel a scheduled holiday port call in favor of the IKECSG sailing back to the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Significant escalations had occurred leading up to that point, including the first use of anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs) against military and commercial ships. Operation Prosperity Guardian was established in response to those escalations, and the IKECSG was tasked to join it.
Ike Joins Prosperity Guardian
The VFA-105 Gunslingers took out its first One Way Attack – Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (OWA-UAV) on December 26th, just one day after Christmas, in the Battle Axe‘s first aerial engagements over the Southern Red Sea. It did so in defense of merchant vessels and fellow Navy destroyers in the region. Prior to Battle Axe‘s involvement, engagements from the strike group and other independently deployed guided missile destroyers involved SM-2 and SM-6 missiles. Gunslingers made a U.S. Navy first that day, performing the first combat use of the AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder.
On New Year’s Eve, M/V Maersk Hangzhou was attacked by Houthi small boats. The crew issued a distress call on Channel 16 and two airborne MH-60Rs from HSM-74 Ambush, performing escort duties for the Eisenhower, responded. The four Houthi small boats fired on both MH-60Rs and were promptly destroyed in self defense. After that engagement, the Houthis stepped up their attacks.
January 9th was a turning point in IKECSG’s operations. It was the “Battle of the BAM“, the biggest escalation since New Year’s Eve. The Houthis launched a swarming, multi-axis attack of drones, cruise missiles, and anti-ship ballistic missiles at the strike group on the evening of the 9th, right after flight ops had ended. The air and missile defense commander listed off the inbound missiles and drones one by one as coalition warships launched on the inbound ballistic missiles.
Eight Super Hornets armed for Defensive Combat Air (DCA) patrols converged on the incoming contacts while escorts Gravely, Laboon, and Mason fired their Standard Missiles. The Royal Navy’s HMS Diamond (D34) joined in as well, firing its Aster missiles at inbound contacts. The first blood of the night came when an aviator from the VFA-131 Wildcats, wingman in tow, came down behind a swarm of Houthi drones to loose his AIM-9X Sidewinders, saving a merchant vessel from being hit. Crewmembers onboard VAW-123 Screwtops’ airborne E-2Cs ordered other fighters around the Red Sea as drones closed in on other merchants. In total, the coalition shot down over twenty incoming contacts with no losses.
Three days later, the IKECSG was approved for retaliatory strikes in Houthi-controlled Yemen. Predetermined targets were destroyed, so the Battle Axe moved to targets of opportunity, all thanks to the planning of VFA-105 Gunslingers. These attacks marked the first combat use of the AGM-88E AARGM from a Super Hornet and destroyed dozens of surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missile launchers.
This dynamic continued for weeks. “The Rumble in the Red Sea” on February 3rd, “The Hudaydah Hat Trick” on February 19, “The Battle Tanker Strikes Back” on February 22nd, “The Growler Takes a Commit” on March 5th, and finally “March Madness” on March 19th. Every notable engagement saw late night, emergency flight ops to down inbound missiles and drones. “March Madness” ended with over 36 drones shot down by the Battle Axe and IKECSG. At some points, the flight deck was completely empty, leaving only fighters in maintenance in the hangar below.
“The Battle Tanker Strikes Back” and “The Growler Takes a Commit” were both U.S. Navy firsts. A Super Hornet battle tanker loaded with fuel for buddy refueling shot down at least one Houthi drone, potentially with its M61A2 20mm gun, and a U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler scored its first air-to-air kill. Just two of the ‘firsts’ for the U.S. Navy that transformed how it trains airmen and sailors in Composite Training Unit Exercises (COMPTUEX).
The U.S. Navy decided it needed more missiles per aircraft, particularly Sidewinders, to deal with the drone threat. the “Heater Wagon” and “Murder Hornet” were born. The U.S. Navy also decided to increase max trap weight to 48,000 pounds to accommodate the extra munitions the Battle Axe was flying out with.
It was such a firefight at times that aviators from VFA-83 Rampagers would fly out a second time tacked onto tanker squadrons to get more chances of taking out Houthi drones and missiles. Oftentimes, they succeeded.
The Battle Axe saw four thousand flight hours per month across the entirety of its deployment. VFA-32 Gypsies expended 121,000 pounds of combat ordnance alone. Rounding out in July 2024, the IKECSG validated U.S. Navy technology and redefined the Navy’s training and workup regiment for future carrier strike groups. For some sailors and airmen, their first ribbon was a Combat Action Ribbon (CAR).
After the deployment, the ‘Mighty Ike‘ entered its maintenance phase. Captain Christopher ‘Chowdah’ Hill was reassigned to the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) several months later. The Truman is in the Red Sea conducting full scale combat operations against Houthi rebels.
Author’s note: This writing is compiled from the spring, summer, and winter edition of Tailhook Magazine: The Journal of Carrier Aviation and the included accounts of Captain Christopher Hill, Captain Marvin Scott, Lieutenant Carlee Conway, Lieutenant Jagan Ravichandran, Lieutenant Ben Longacre, Lieutenant Daniel Peters, Lieutenant Martin Prikasky, Lieutenant Junior Grade Avesta Shwany, alongside various publications from U.S. Central Command, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) public affairs releases.
