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although the battle with the houthis was back and forth, the operations in the red sea were described by the crew of the us aircraft carrier battle group as "the most intense sea and air battle since the korean war." captain christopher "jonda" hill, the captain of the uss eisenhower, who participated in the sea and air battle, also accepted an interview with the us "war zone" website and described the details of these battles.

captain christopher "jonda" hill, commander of the uss eisenhower

the war zone website stated that during the historic nine-month deployment, the uss eisenhower and its escorts were attacked by a range of new and old weapons, launching nearly 800 missiles and other ammunition in the process, and they also helped israel defend against the first direct missile attack from iran. this made this deployment the most dangerous and arduous one experienced by the sea service since the korean war, but it also created many firsts and learned a lot of experience.

the u.s. navy ea-18g growler electronic warfare aircraft on the uss eisenhower completed the first air-to-air strike of the type, "probably" shooting down a houthi drone. at the same time, the ea-18g used the agm-88e advanced anti-radiation guided missile (aargm) in the battle in the red sea, destroying a mi-24/35 attack helicopter on the ground (this is also the only mi-24 that the houthi armed air force can fly, observer network note). an arleigh burke-class destroyer attached to the aircraft carrier battle group launched the navy's newest missile in combat for the first time. an f/a-18f super hornet pilot on the uss eisenhower became the first woman in u.s. military history to achieve an air-to-air victory. this was also the first time that the uss eisenhower and its frigates had to deal with anti-ship ballistic missiles in combat, which was "very challenging."

the following is a q&a session between the war zone and the ship's captain, capt. christopher "jonda" hill, with some translated excerpts.

q: before your deployment, were you prepared for a major emergency in the middle east? what was it like when the "al-aqsa flood" occurred on october 7? did you and your crew realize that everything was about to change?

a: prior to october 7, the crew was very excited about a possible port call. we were going to do a nato exercise. everybody was very excited about it because port calls are important to the crew because before that, they had two deployments that were back-to-back in 2020 and 2021. but on october 7, everything changed. "hamas invaded israel," and then we were deploying a week later. we didn't really have a mission at that time, but just get to the eastern mediterranean as fast as possible, rendezvous with the uss ford, take some pictures, provide some presence operations during that time to deter the countries around israel. so it was a big flip. the thing is, when we train, we prepare a lot for almost everything, but we don't focus on specific threats every time.

q: how does the mood change on board when you arrive in an intense war zone? obviously, it's different than anything the navy has encountered in a long time. what's that like?

a: i talk to the staff almost every day and remind them, because a lot of them - there are thousands of them - this may be their first time in combat. i keep saying, 'hey, this is extraordinary. what we're doing is unprecedented, and everyone here should be proud of what you're doing. but the united states navy has never fought like this in modern history, as far as we know.'

q: that’s a great motivation.

a: but it is true, but i had to keep reminding them that we have a mission and purpose in this theater, and our job is to deny or degrade the enemy's capabilities. and it's important to maintain morale in that difficult situation. we didn't have a lot of port calls. we had two ships at the end, and it took our sailors more than 6 months to get a break. it has happened before in history, but it's still tough. morale is very important. it's the path to success. we have to look at success from a micro-tactical level perspective. all in all, the sailors did a very good job.

q: as good as the u.s. navy's defenses are, there is a real concern that a drone or missile could infiltrate and strike a battle group. what is it like to command a ship in that situation, knowing there's a swarm of drones and anti-ship missiles out there, and they really want to sink your ship and your battle group?

a: you have to live your life. you can't dwell on these things. but we took steps to do that. from reconnaissance, intelligence surveillance, early reconnaissance as early as possible so that the entire battle group can have time to react, defense in depth, multiple ships in the strike group to protect themselves and the aircraft carrier. and then on the aircraft carrier, when you have a long enough warning, you can send aircraft. we would send multiple warning aircraft every time to respond to the threat. in a way, it became routine.

a: because it's the norm, you have to man the ship to handle this extreme situation. when people are sleeping, make sure the people on duty can adapt to the three shifts with reversed day and night. we carefully arrange the deck duty schedule to allow them to have normal days. in short, we got better. over time, we learned to adapt to this rhythm so that we can respond to any threat. again, everyone adapts to this state. we practiced this in training before deployment, but this situation. it took about five to six weeks of evolution. all the carrier battle groups will pass through here, and it is very intense.

q: what is the biggest gain from dealing with large numbers of suicide drones and suicide boats in the air?

a: some would say it's a technological advancement. i don't think so. [the drones used by the houthis] are still a weaponized vehicle, whether it's a surface ship or an air vehicle. it's just that there's no one piloting it. that provides a potential advantage, and modern networks can help control these vehicles. so you're not essentially targeting just one target. there are other targets associated with it. that also brings its own vulnerabilities to the vehicle, but the other side of that is that progress in countering these means has been quite slow, so that makes this drone attack easier.

q: have you seen any progress in the houthis’ drone capabilities in the air or at sea? have you seen any iterative developments?

a: yeah, that's one of those questions i really can't answer, sorry.

q: do you feel excited about the first f/a-18e/f kill of an enemy aircraft?

a: i know that dozens of drones have been shot down by fighter jets. that's not something to celebrate. that's to be expected. so we prepared, and then the fighters executed, and they did an outstanding job.

q: we are seeing a new air-to-air missile being introduced to counter this threat. can you talk about this threat?

a: i probably can't answer that question. but what i can say is that whenever there is a different type of threat, we change the configuration loaded on the aircraft. if you are going to attack a surface ship, you need a certain air-to-ground weapon. for different types of air-to-air threats, you need different air-to-air missiles. so it's very easy for us to adapt, and within a few hours we can make these changes.

q: do you need permission from higher headquarters to use new weapons, or can you do it on the fly?

a: if you're going to do something completely new, you need to get approval from a what's their name? yes. look, this is not my part, but you basically get on-the-fly change approval from an off-site organization in the navy.

in addition, captain eisenhower also talked about some "firsts".

q: tactically, there were so many firsts on this cruise. anti-ship ballistic missiles were in action. how did your team adapt, and what are your thoughts on how they might change future naval operations?

a: i think there are some potential lessons for future naval operations in the context of ballistic missile proliferation. so we got a lot of lessons from a technical perspective on how to change our tactics, techniques, and procedures. that's all good. so a lot of that can be applied to potential future engagements, and it was also good to see our sailors perform as they trained. we've practiced this before in the training cycle, but it was all rote learning, and it was up to them to perform. they did a great job.

q: what have you learned about drones?

a: when a new threat or a different type of threat comes up, we break that threat down into its components and then analyze each component to find the weaknesses ourselves. no one else tells us to do that. we do it all on our own. a lot of this stuff is mapped out by the guys on the ship themselves, like, ‘hey, how can we do this better?’ and then we apply that change sometimes the same day or the next day, and it makes a difference. it’s that relentless pursuit of perfection and excellence that shapes our culture as a navy and marine aviation.

q: i imagine that after-action reporting on this will be of historical importance and will probably be taught at the naval war college and elsewhere.

a: yes, potentially. we're still doing a lot of briefings and taking a systematic approach to lessons learned. we learned a lot from the attacks in 2016 when we had them. we learned from a couple of pretty catastrophic incidents in 2017 when we had them. so all of those things have made us better and better over time. do we have room to grow? absolutely. there's no doubt about it. we have a culture of getting better, so we just keep working on it.

q: a lot of the kinetic missions are flown over houthi territory. it's not heavily contested airspace, but they do have a verified surface-to-air missile threat. are you prepared to pull them out of the water and save them if something goes wrong?

a: i can't go into detail, but as with any strike mission, we always have a combat search and rescue (casr) program. we will always have that casr mission.

hill also talked about the first female fighter pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft and the new activity center on the eisenhower, which has wifi and a game room. although wifi is against the discipline of the us navy, being able to connect with family online while working in a war zone has greatly increased morale. these reforms to the living facilities of officers and soldiers will be recorded in the captain's new book, "the road to morale".

at the end of the interview, colonel hill was asked whether the red sea demonstration could be applied to combat operations against china.

q: are there any takeaways from this deployment that you think might be applicable to high-end operations against china?

a: yes. some of the logistical challenges, some of the resiliency challenges, some of the things that we've learned with drones and missiles. all of that, i think, is applicable to future fights. that's the lessons we're already sharing. everybody agrees on that.

q: what will you miss most when you retire?

a: oh, i love the people here. i love working with the junior sailors, the junior officers. i love telling stories, and i love seeing the fire in their eyes when they feel like they have a mission and a purpose. it's easy for me to give them that feeling because a lot of people say they joined the navy just because i needed the money for college. and i say, yes, that's one of the reasons you join, but you also join to serve, to wear a uniform, to practice your salute in the mirror, and they laugh when i say that because they all do it. and to be part of something bigger than yourself, right?

so, those words are too cool to say. so you don't say it, but you can use it as a resource by reminding them that they're a soldier at heart. that's the original source of their morale. i don't know the word for it, but i want to get after that. i say to them, 'one day you're going to be 80 or 90 years old and you're going to talk about your experience with me on the ike, and it's an old ship, but they're going to talk about their experience with pride. so i just have to tell them that story.