Compass Points - Jumping on Houthis
Marine pilot downs 7 drones.
Compass Points - Jumping on Houthis
Marine pilot downs 7 drones.
February 15, 2024
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Not so fast Marine Corps, says Marine Captain Earl Ehrhart.
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The Marine Corps has been phasing out the venerable Harrier jump jet that was once the most advanced plane in Marine aviation. Back in the 1980s, the Harrier was very advanced. Now, the Marine Corps is slowly getting rid of the Harriers. Back in 2020, the Harrier squadron Marine Attack Squadron 311, VMA-311, the Tomcats, was merged with VMA-214, the Black Sheep. The Tomcats have a great history of their own which began with Corsairs in World War II. In more recent years, as the Marine Times reports,
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The squadron continued to rack up historical firsts: The first squadron to fly the AV-8B Harrier in combat during Operation Desert Shield, the first squadron to use Harriers in Afghanistan and then to participate in the first combat sortie of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
-- Marine Times
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The very last class of engine maintainers for the Harriers had just five Marines and they graduated from the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, January 29, 2024. The last two new Harrier pilots will be certified in 2024. It is just about the end of the line for the Harriers.
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Not so fast Marine Corps, says Marine Captain Earl Ehrhart. Capt Ehrhart is currently stationed onboard the USS Bataan operating off the coast of Israel just north of the Red Sea. Capt Ehrhart is a Harrier pilot and every day he climbs into his aging Harrier and flies out to meet some of the most advanced threats in the world, Houthi missiles and drones.
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The BBC reports,
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"I never imagined I was going to be doing this when we launched," says lead pilot Capt Earl Ehrhart.
In fact, just days before the outbreak of war in Gaza, Capt Ehrhart and his crewmates thought they were going home. After months patrolling the waters close to the Persian Gulf, the troops on board the USS Bataan were about to finish their tour of duty. But on the morning of 7 October, everything changed. Within an hour of Hamas attacking Israel and killing around 1,200 people, the USS Bataan received new orders, to plot a course towards the eastern Mediterranean and prepare to monitor the coast of Gaza.
Twelve days later, another change in the mission. This time, to engage the Houthis . . .
"The Houthis were launching a lot of suicide attack drones," says Ehrhart. "They are a robust and capable force," he adds, warning they are not to be underestimated. To be effective against this rebel group, the marines needed to adapt.
"We took a Harrier jet and modified it for air defence," Ehrhart tells me. "We loaded it up with missiles and that way we're able to respond to their drone attacks."
-- BBC
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Capt Ehrhart has shot down 7 Houthi drones, preventing uncountable death and destruction. Capt Ehrhart is one example of why Marines have always been in such demand. The Marine Corps often does not have the latest equipment. But what is most important is not the age of the equipment, but the spirit of the Marine. Marines never back away from a challenge. Marines use whatever weapons and whatever equipment they have at hand to accomplish the mission. The secret weapon that Marines bring to every fight is the heart of a Marine.
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Compass Points salutes Capt Ehrhart and all the hard-working Marines of the 26th MEU (SOC). In the great tradition of the Marine Corps, they are far from home fighting for freedom. Aircraft may age. Equipment may age. But the spirit of Marines stays young and strong forever.
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Marine Times (marinecorpstimes) 10/16/2020
Historic Marine Harrier squadron sunsets as the Corps looks to the F-35
By Philip Athey
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BBC (bbc.com) 02/11/2024
The fighter pilots hunting Houthi drones over the Red Sea
By Nafiseh Kohnavard, Middle East correspondent BBC Persian, in the eastern Mediterranean
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68227200
Isn’t it odd the USAF is still flying the B-52? Upgraded and so forth many many times, the pilots today are at the least the grandchildren of the pilots who started flying the BUFF in the 1950’s. Of course the USAF has modern bombers which oddly they find that they can integrate with the missions of the B-52. Maybe, just maybe the AV8B could carry on a while longer, and further this whole mess just proves how wrong (completely wrong) FD2030 is and was, oh damn sorry General Smith, it’s just Force Design now. When you’re wrong and have a new lousy product you often try rebranding it. Ask Coke A Cola how that works out. One wonders where the millions of cases of New Coke are stashed.
The US has deployed one or two aircraft carriers with all of the service members, aircraft, ammunition and logistics required and the Houthis are deploying drones and missiles. The imbalance is embarrassing. This Iran proxy is causing the US to continue to deplete munitions and put a strain on ships, planes and people. Our country does not have a stockpile of weapons as we once did now that the US is supplying Israel and Ukraine. I don't know the number of ships in the Navy inventory but I am sure it is not enough to cover the increasing needs around the globe. It seems to me the "bad guys" in the world have figured out a cheap way to degrade the overall readiness of the American military. In my opinion, the administration needs to take more aggressive, more decisive action which will stop draining our military resources. We need to show we want to win.