If it’s Friday, it’s time for the Rundown! This week, we took a close look at how the Navy fought an undeclared war in the Red Sea from October 2023 to January 2025, during which the service fired more than $1 billion worth of interceptors at missiles, drones, and other threats launched by Houthi rebels and Iran.
After firing a shipload of extremely costly missiles, some with a price tag as high as $28.7 million per munition, the Navy switched to less expensive options, such as 5-inch main gun rounds, to shoot down drones flying low or close to ships. That’s right, it was literally too close for missiles, so they switched to guns.
Although the conflict has been on hiatus since Hamas and Israel reached a ceasefire agreement in January, there’s always the chance that the Houthis could start attacking ships in the Red Sea again.
On a personal note, my grandfather John W. Duff served as a gunnery officer aboard the battleship USS New Mexico during World War II. When I was a kid, I’d ask him about the battle of Okinawa, when his ship was hit by a Japanese Kamikaze. The New Mexico was one of 225 vessels damaged by Kamikaze attacks from April to June 1945. Another 26 ships were sunk. Nearly 5,000 sailors were killed in the battle.
It’s a testament to sailors’ training and professionalism that not a single ship has been lost during more than a year of combat operations in the Red Sea. Bravo Zulu, Navy.
We’re just getting started. Here is your weekly rundown:
- DOGE cuts harm veterans. Efforts by Elon Musk’s team, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to cut government spending and trim the size of the federal workforce are causing a lot of pain for the veteran community. Navy veteran Kyle Lewis, who is battling Stage 4 cancer, can no longer receive the experimental drugs that have kept him alive since 2020 due to cuts to cancer research funding. Air Force veteran Robert Betters has lost half of his business and was forced to lay off 45 employees, including other veterans, due to the Department of Veterans Affairs decision to cancel a number of federal contracts. And Ben, a disabled veteran who asked to be identified by his first name only, is one of thousands of veterans who have lost their jobs as part of the mass firings of federal employees. “It feels like getting stabbed in the back,” he told Task & Purpose.
- Fort Moore no more. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Monday that Fort Moore, Georgia will get its old name back: Fort Benning. But just as with his decision to change the name of Fort Liberty, North Carolina, back to Fort Bragg, the newly renamed Fort Benning will honor a soldier who distinguished himself in combat instead of a Confederate general. Army Cpl. Fred G. Benning was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism during World War I. The post had been renamed for Lt. Gen. Harold G. “Hal” Moore and Julia Moore as part of efforts to redesignate nine Army bases originally named for Confederate leaders. Hegseth ordered the Army to find another way to honor the legacy of Hal and Julia Moore, but their son David told Task & Purpose, “I think that they have done a disservice to my parents in their zeal to rename Benning for the Benning name.”
- U.S.-Ukraine relations in a tailspin. The Feb. 28 Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy can politely be described as a total f—king disaster. Trump and Vance felt that Zelenskyy was not showing enough gratitude for U.S. assistance to Ukraine. A planned rare earths mineral deal between the two countries collapsed. Trump later paused military aid to Ukraine, and the United States has stopped sharing intelligence with the Ukrainians for now. On the same day that relations between the United States and Ukraine fell apart, a funeral was held in Kyiv for a Marine veteran killed while fighting with Ukrainian forces. Ethan Hunter Hertweck is one of dozens of Americans killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in February 2022. Their sacrifices will not be forgotten.
- Video may show the “Flying Ginsu” in action. U.S. Central Command released a video on March 1 that appears to show the AGM-114R9X Hellfire missile being used as part of a Feb. 23 airstrike in Syria that killed a leader with Hurras al-Din, a group affiliated with al-Qaida. The missile has been nicknamed the “Flying Ginsu” and “Ninja Bomb” because it uses sword-like blades in lieu of a high explosive warhead to kill its target. Video of the strike shows that there was no large explosion when the missile hit a moving truck, according to The War Zone, which also reported that “airborne color TV camera footage of the vehicle” showed the “R9X’s trademark punched-through hole in its roof over the driver’s position.” This could be the first time the military has released video of a strike involving the Flying Ginsu, which has typically been used for high-level operations, such as the July 2022 strike in Kabul that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman Al Zawahiri.
- ‘Starship Troopers’ remake could be in the works. To end on a lighter note, Sony is reportedly considering remaking the 1997 classic “Starship Troopers.” The movie is very loosely based on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein, but there are many differences between the two. For example, there is no shower scene in the book. Go ahead and look. I have. It’s not there. Since it premiered, the 1997 movie has prompted debate about whether it was a not-so-subtle parody of fascism, or just good ole’ fashioned Sci-Fi camp and ‘rah ‘rah militarism. The movie also has spawned a never-ending debate about why Johnny Rico, the main character, courted Carmen and ignored Dizzy. Do you want to know more? Check out our 2017 story on military facts about “Starship Troopers” that you may have missed.
Thank you again for reading!
Jeff Schogol