A US Navy commander who oversaw many of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Provider Strike Group’s eight-month deployment within the Crimson Sea stated officers had advised extra aggressive strikes on the Houthis, however that prime command declined them.
“There are particular methods that have been put ahead, however our Nationwide Command Authority determined that these — I might name extra aggressive postures and extra aggressive strikes — was not one thing we needed to problem,” Miguez stated within the interview revealed on Monday.
“Everyone knows Iranian-backed teams just like the Houthis, the place that risk’s emanating from,” he stated. “That’s the calculus that is dealt with at echelon zero, on the Nationwide Command Authority, at NSA, and all people else.”
“These are issues that I do not dabble in,” he added.
Miguez informed Carroll that the provider strike group launched seven devoted assaults on Houthi targets throughout its twice-extended deployment from October 2023 to June 2024.
The group, which incorporates the plane provider Ike, was beforehand reported to have launched greater than 500 munitions to hit the Yemeni rebels straight and intercept their drones and missiles as they attacked business ships within the strait.
For the reason that Eisenhower group departed, the Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln provider strike teams have moved into the Center East as regional tensions proceed to soar.
Miguez indicated that he believes the US ought to undertake a extra aggressive posture with the Houthis.
“Shifting ahead, we’re going to must proceed to cope with this,” he stated. “It will likely be as much as our Nationwide Command Authority to in all probability be extra aggressive with out strike teams and all of our belongings, not simply Navy.”
The Houthis have stated that they solely goal ships linked with Israel over the struggle in Gaza. However the group has additionally launched assaults on vessels from different international locations that don’t have any obvious ties to Tel Aviv.
Extra just lately, the insurgent group attacked a Greek-flagged oil tanker that caught hearth and was left drifting within the Crimson Sea.
Miguez stated that to cease the assaults, the US must marshal all of its assets extra aggressively, together with diplomacy and financial coverage.
“If we will get that focus with a whole-of-government strategy, I believe that is what is going on to end in a freedom of navigation in that important strait, which impacts about 20% of worldwide commerce,” he stated.
Miguez was appointed Navy Chief of Legislative Affairs in July.
Since leaving command of the Eisenhower provider strike group, he is been vocal in regards to the US needing to coach extra to struggle drones after seeing how extensively the Houthis used them within the Crimson Sea.
The Pentagon’s press service didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark despatched exterior common enterprise hours by Enterprise Insider.