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The U.S. Navy reported “friendly fire” when two pilots were recovered during operations in the Middle East “to ensure regional stability and security.”

As many look ahead to the second administration of President-elect Donald Trump and his intention to refocus and restore the U.S. Military, the foreign policy decisions of President Joe Biden resulted a military mishap in the Red Sea.

Having dispatched a carrier strike group to the region amid increased hostilities from Iran and their terrorist proxies since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, a two seat F/A-18 Super Hornet was reportedly shot down after it was “mistakenly fired on” shortly after taking off.

“The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18,” a statement from U.S. Central Command explained. “Both pilots were safely recovered. Initial assessments indicate that one of the crew members sustained minor injuries.”

CENTCOM added, “This incident was not the result of hostile fire, and a full investigation is underway,” as it remained undisclosed how the aircraft was mistakenly targeted.

While the identities of the pilots aboard the downed Super Hornet were not disclosed, they were said to have been assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 11, the “Red Rippers,” based out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

Along with the “friendly fire,” the Navy did confirm a number of successes during its ongoing operation. Statements on airstrikes included a report of taking out a number of Houthi-controlled facilities in Yemen.

The military detailed the group had “conducted precision airstrikes against a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility operated by Iran-backed Houthis within Houthi-controlled territory in Sana’a, Yemen, on Dec. 21 Yemen time.”

With the stated objective of disrupting and degrading Houthi operations, “such as attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden,” CENTCOM noted forces also shot down a number of Houthi attack drones and an anti-ship cruise missile.

Saturday’s operation came only days after CENTCOM had confirmed a precision airstrike had taken out two ISIS operatives, including the objective target of “ISIS leader Abu Yusif aka Mahmud in the Dayr az Zawr Province, Syria.”

“As stated before,” CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement, “the United States — working with allies and partners in the region — will not allow ISIS to take advantage of the current situation in Syria and reconstitute. ISIS has the intent to break out of detention the over 8,000 ISIS operatives currently being held in facilities in Syria.”

“We will aggressively target these leaders and operatives,” continued Kurilla in the wake of the ousting of dictatorial Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, “including those trying to conduct operations external to Syria.”

In addition to airstrikes, it had been revealed that around 2,000 U.S. troops were on the ground in Syria as part of the Defeat ISIS mission.

Kevin Haggerty
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