“It’s all muscle memory,” Lt. Cmdr. Ben Kozlowski who is a combat officer aboard the USS MASON in the Red Sea said.
They spend hours at a time, crowded inside a windowless control room, looking at radar screens for any indication of an approaching threat. On occasion, the officials on board this Navy battleship have less than fifteen seconds to locate and neutralize an approaching missile or drone.
In the face of attacks by rebels backed by Iran, the Navy destroyer is one of the warships assigned to guard military and commercial ships navigating the Red Sea.
Following the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas, the USS Mason was part of a Navy strike force that was sent to the area. Cmdr. Justin Smith, the commanding officer of the Mason, and his senior officers must make snap judgments in response to the threat posed by ballistic missiles.
Capt. David Coles, Operation Prosperity Guardian, a coalition of countries working to protect ships in the Red Sea said “I won’t beat around the bush — this is a kinetic environment, The Houthis have caused a lot of mayhem here.”
Justin Smith said, “I have about 10 to 15 seconds of decision time to make sure that I have that ability to successfully defend Mason, as well as the 330 crew members and sailors that are onboard the ship,”
“It’s a pretty intense environment out here, high-paced, but my sailors and the crew are absolutely equipped to be able to handle this higher activity and very dynamic environment here,”
During the weekend, the United States and the United Kingdom jointly launched a campaign to target Houthi targets in Yemen using more than two dozen fighter jets and support aircraft. According to US sources, 36 Houthi targets were hit by the US and the UK in 13 different places in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the crew and officers on board the Mason continue to be on high alert.