WASHINGTON DC (trfnews.i234.me) – Fatigue is setting in as the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier nears its ninth month of waging the most intense running sea battle since World War II. The aircraft carrier, along with its strike group and approximately 7,000 sailors, has been tirelessly protecting commercial shipping in the Red Sea from continuous attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The prolonged campaign has raised challenging questions among U.S. defense leaders about how to maintain the carrier’s combat power if it returns to its home port in Norfolk, Virginia. The carrier’s deployment has already been extended twice, and a decision on the next steps is expected soon.