US aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower denies false Houthi claims

ABOARD THE USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER IN THE RED SEA (AP) The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower may be one of the oldest aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy, but it continues to fight despite the repeated false claims by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

The Houthis and social media accounts supporting them have repeatedly falsely claimed they hit, or even sank, the aircraft carrier in the Red Sea. The carrier is leading the U.S. response to rebel attacks on commercial ships and warships in crucial attacks on the waterways that the Houthis say are aimed at ending the war between Israel and Hamas in the Strip. Gaza.

Eisenhower leader Capt. Christopher Chowdah Hill creatively fights back on social media to counter misinformation and boost morale among the ship's 5,000 men as the Navy faces its most intense fight since World War II .

I think that's about two or three times in the last six months that we would have been sunk, which is not the case, Hill told The Associated Press during a recent visit to the carrier. It's almost comical at this point. They may be trying to tap into misinformation, but it doesn't work on us.

The visit by two AP journalists and others to the Eisenhower represents part of the Navy's efforts to try to counter the Houthis' claims. For about a day and a half on board, journalists escorted by sailors toured the 1,092-foot (332-meter) nuclear-powered ships. AP journalists also flew over the Eisenhower several times from the air aboard a Seahawk helicopter.

Aside from rust on the side from the hot, humid air of the Red Sea and water apparently leaking from a pipe in a dining room, the ship did not appear to be in bad shape. Its cockpit showed no blast damage or gaping holes, just the smell of jet fuel, puddles of oily water, and the howl of engines before its F/A-18 fighter jets took flight.

The other half of the information warfare effort was Hill himself, a native of Quincy, Massachusetts, immediately noticeable in his South Boston accent. While even the Houthis' secret leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, gave the name of the carrier in his speeches while making false claims about the ship, Hill has continued to offer positive messages online about his sailors at edge.

Videos of flight operations from the bridge and images of sailors eating cookies in the captain's chair are a constant staple. After a false claim from the Houthis, Hill responded by posting images of cinnamon rolls and muffins in the bakery aboard the Eisenhower, a subtle criticism of those claims.

The main goal of the social media outreach was to connect with families, to bring them closer to the ship, Hill said. So if I can post pictures of sons and daughters, husbands and wives here, or even fathers and mothers, it somehow brings the family closer to us. And again, that's our support network. But he also took on another role because everyone was watching to see what was being done.

Then there are the Star Wars memes and images of Captain Demo, the Labrador-golden retriever mix who roams the ship as a support animal for the sailors. And when it comes to the Houthi forces monitoring his assignments, Hill takes particular pleasure in writing about Taco Tuesday aboard the ship.

We're going to celebrate Taco Tuesdays because it's my favorite day of the week. This will never end, the captain said. If you call it an information warfare campaign, you can. It's just who I am, you know, at the end of the day.

But morale remains a deep concern for Hill and other leaders aboard the ship. The Eisenhower and her allied ships have had only one short port call during the eight-month rotation so far to Greece. The aircraft carrier has also been the most deployed aircraft carrier in the entire US fleet over the past five years, according to an analysis by the US Naval Institute press service.

One sailor, Lt. Joseph Hirl of Raleigh, North Carolina, wore a patch reading: Go Navy, Beat Houthis. Although it was a pun on the classic call for the annual Army-Navy football game, the Navy flight officer emphasized that he knew the fight was deadly serious.

“It's pretty much the daily stress of knowing we're being shot at that definitely gives the realism to the whole experience that this is not a normal deployment,” Hirl said.

At the same time, ammunition also remains a concern. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee in May that the Navy had spent at least $1 billion on weapons to fight in the Red Sea. All the leaders aboard the Eisenhower that the AP spoke with acknowledged that the Navy was trying to use the right weapon against the Houthis, whose asymmetric warfare leads them to use much cheaper munitions.

My sailors, my ships are invaluable, that's not a calculation I want a captain to have, said Capt. David Wroe, the commodore overseeing the guided-missile destroyers escorting the Eisenhower. Now, using the appropriate weapon system on the appropriate threat to preserve magazine depth and have more missiles is certainly a relevant tactical issue.

For now, the Eisenhower continues its patrol in the company of the USS Philippine Sea, a cruiser and two destroyers, the USS Gravely and the USS Mason. This has already been extended twice and there is always a chance it will happen again. But Hill said his Sailors remain ready to fight and he remains ready to continue captaining in his style.

At some point in my career, I had an epiphany that one of the things all humans need is to be loved and valued, Hill said. So I shouldn't be afraid, as a leader, to try to love and value everyone, and also to expect other leaders I'm responsible for to love and value their Sailors.

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Follow AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

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