A US aircraft carrier and its crew have fought Houthi attacks for months. How long can it last?

Fatigue is setting in as a U.S. aircraft carrier nears its ninth month waging the most intense running sea battle since World War II

A US aircraft carrier and its crew have fought Houthi attacks for months. How long can it last?

Inflation and interest rates: the US experience

Once again the US Federal Reserve is in a quandary. Does it cut its policy interest rate soon in order to relieve pressure on debt servicing costs for consumers and businesses and perhaps avoid a stagflationary economy (ie low or no growth alongside higher inflation); or does it hold its current interest rate for borrowing in order to make sure inflation falls towards its target of 2% a year?

Inflation and interest rates: the US experience

Littoral Combat Ship Still Fighting to Prove Its Worth

The Littoral Combat Ship was meant to start the Navy’s operational renaissance. But a chorus of naysayers and critics have put service leaders on the defensive, insisting that the troubled program has turned a corner.

Littoral Combat Ship Still Fighting to Prove Its Worth

They’ve increased the crew size and have been training them to maintain the ships themselves rather than relying on the original contractors. 

Related:

The Littoral Combat Ship: How We Got Here, and Why (PDF)

Littoral Combat Ship: Actions Needed to Address Significant Operational Challenges and Implement Planned Sustainment Approach

USNI Proceedings PodcastLittoral Combat Ships: How the Navy is Employing Them (Ted LeClair, Marc Crawford, Mark Haney)

Previously:

The Inside Story of How the Navy Spent Billions on the “Little Crappy Ship”

The Navy just launched a brand new ship it doesn’t even want

USS Mason Sailor Who Went Overboard in Red Sea Declared Lost by Navy

USS Mason Sailor Who Went Overboard in Red Sea Declared Lost by Navy

Aviation Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Oriola Michael Aregbesola, who was aboard the USS Mason, went overboard on March 20, according to the Navy.

Aregbesola was assigned to the “Swamp Foxes” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 74, which was embarked on the Mason. The ship has been operating in the Red Sea alongside the Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group.

Without witnesses, it may be difficult for the Navy to definitively determine what led to Aregbesola falling into the water.

The reasons behind most sailor overboard incidents, which unfortunately occur with some regularity, remain unknown.

Aregbesola is not the first sailor to go overboard in the past several months, either.

In January, two Navy SEALs went overboard and were later declared lost while attempting to board a ship that was discovered to be carrying Iranian missile components.

Previously:

US Military: Two US Navy SEALs Missing Off Coast of Somalia Are Dead

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: March 25, 2024

At least some are closer to the homeland.

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: March 25, 2024

U.S. Coast Guard Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) are forward-deployed to the region under Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA). PATFORSWA deploys Coast Guard personnel and ships with U.S. and regional naval forces throughout the Middle East. Initially deployed in 2003 to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, PATFORSWA is now a permanent presence based out of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Previously:

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: March 18, 2024

Veterans Burn Their Uniforms at Vigil for US Airman Aaron Bushnell

Source

A group of veterans from the US armed forces burnt their uniforms in a show of solidarity with the airman Aaron Bushnell, who died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington in a protest over the war in Gaza.

Veterans Burn Their Uniforms at Vigil for US Airman Aaron Bushnell

Related:

The Air Force identified the Airman who died after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy on Feb. 25 as Senior Airman Aaron James Bushnell, a cyber defense operations specialist assigned to the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing.

Originally from Whitman, Mass., the 25-year-old Bushnell first joined the Air Force on May 5, 2020. His duty station was the 531st Intelligence Support Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. His duty title was innovation services technician, and his decorations included the Meritorious Unit Award, National Defense Service Medal, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and Air Force Training Ribbon.

Source

Man Who Died After Self-Immolation At Israeli Embassy Put Palestinian Fund In Will: Reports

Aaron Bushnell’s Protest Reflects A Much Deeper Crisis In the US Military

Aaron Bushnell’s Extreme Act of Protest & Why the World Would be Better if He was Still With Us

Palestinian resistance pays tribute to martyr, Aaron Bushnell

‘I Will No Longer be Complicit in Genocide’: U.S. Soldier Dies of Self-Immolation in Protest of War on Gaza