So Iran, or specifically the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, keeps getting increasingly rowdy, something that is cyclical (see Operations Earnest Will and Praying Mantis in 1987-1988 besides more modern incidents).
Most recently, the Aegis destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74), supported by land-based MQ-9 Reaper drones and Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, chased off two back-to-back Iranian attempts at shanghaiing the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker TRF Moss and Bahamian-flagged oil tanker Richmond Voyager in international waters in the Gulf of Oman.
This has seen a surge in assets to the region including an additional destroyer (the newly commissioned USS Thomas Hudner, DDG-116) as well as USAF F-35 and F-16 fighters to help monitor the Strait of Hormuz.
Why no carrier?
Well, of the 11 in the Navy’s inventory, one, USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74), has been in a four-year Refueling and Complex Overhaul since 2021, another, the troubled USS George Washington (CVN-73), is just coming back online after her RCOH, and a third, USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) is in the middle of a PIA that will take several more months. USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is set to undergo maintenance until December.
Of the remaining seven, four are in port in varying lesser maintenance/workup stages, and just three are underway. These include the Japan-based Reagan CSG in exercises with the America ARG along with the Australians and company in the West Pac, the Vinson CSG working up off the West Coast, and the Ford on her first “real” deployment to the Sixth Fleet where she is increasingly being used in conjunction with the Bataan ARG to apply pressure to the Russians via Syria et. al.
However, the Bataan’s embarked 26th MEU(SOC) has been cross-decking and moving ashore to CENTCOM in “distributed operations” in the region while part of the Marine force will remain on Sixth Fleet orders in European waters aboard USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19). The Marines, along with Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Company Central (FASTCENT), have been training in Bahrain “for potential shipboard roles protecting oil tankers and other commercial ships from Iranian aggression.”
NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY BAHRAIN (July 03, 2023) – A U.S. Marine assigned to Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Company Central (FASTCENT) leads a team during close-quarters battle training at the U.S. Coast Guard Patrol Forces Southwest Asia Maritime Engagement Team training facility aboard Naval Support Activity Bahrain, July 03. FASTCENT provides expeditionary anti-terrorism and security forces to embassies, consulates, and other vital national assets throughout the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Angela Wilcox)
Stars and Stripes confirmed the plans for the shiprider program:
Marines newly deployed to the Middle East already are training for shipboard roles protecting oil tankers and other commercial ships from Iranian aggression, news that comes a day after U.S. officials told some media outlets they were considering the possibility of such a plan.
About 100 Marines have been training in Bahrain for specialized defensive teams that would travel briefly with commercial ships through and near the Strait of Hormuz, said a U.S. official speaking on the condition of anonymity with Stars and Stripes because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.
This reminds me of the unsung OIF Guardian Mariner shiprider program that protected the civilian mariner-crewed MSC cargo ships in the region back in 2003.
MSC crews owed thanks to the fleet force protection teams and the Guardian Mariner program for defending MSC ships against potential terrorist attacks from small boats. As the buildup for OIF began in January 2003, force protection teams from primarily the Army and Marine Corps provided shipboard protection for MSC ships. The first team was from the First Marine Expeditionary Force and reported aboard USNS Antares in late January. This was an interim solution for force protection until the Guardian Mariner program came into full operation.
Under the Guardian Mariner program, more than 1,300 Army reservists were activated to provide force protection and security aboard MSC ships sailing to and from Southwest Asia. The soldiers, from the Puerto Rico National Guard Unit 92nd Separate Infantry Brigade, were organized into 110, 12-person teams. They began reporting aboard MSC ships on 19 March 2003. In all, around 70 fleet force protection teams and 75 Guardian Mariner teams were used aboard MSC ships during OIF.