Word is, with the surface fleet pulling a budget version of the convoy battles of the North Atlantic in the Red Sea over the past few months, with Houthi/Iranian drones, small boats, and cruise missiles tabbing in for U-boats and Condors, recruitment and retention is tracking upward.
That’s because it is hard to spend the next four years getting the blue weenie while worrying if you have your POSH/SAPR modules up to date and policing up your area while your ship is cold iron at the yard for the next who-knows-long period and the biggest opportunity to actually “do” something kinda high speed is the prospect of the occasional tense transit through the South China Sea. Or worse, recruiting duty.
With that, the Navy just recently put together this excellent 3-minute mini moto movie featuring pep talks from the tin cans getting “birds away” on the Houthi line.
FYA, there are at least 53 documented attacks by the Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) between 19 November 2023 and 6 February 2024 in the region.
And, for a deeper dive, VADM Brendan McLane, Commander, Naval Surface Forces (the SWO Boss) talks readiness, manning, Red Sea operations, and directed energy weapons with USNI host Bill Hamblet for a half-hour.