Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. 5th Fleet at the time, speaks with sailors assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class, guided-missile destroyer USS Carney after presenting combat medals to sailors while the ship was in Bahrain on Jan. 2, 2024. (Jacob Vernier/U.S. Navy)
WASHINGTON — The Navy is now authorizing combat awards for sailors serving in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the service has announced.
Sailors in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden can now receive the Combat Action Ribbon, as well as personal military decorations that include “C” and “V” devices for combat and valor, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro wrote in a memo released Wednesday.
The Air Medal is authorized on a strike/flight basis, which is given for sustained flight operations. Sailors can also receive personal military decorations with “R” for direct hands-on efforts during combat operations.
Awards can be issued for incidents dating back to Oct. 19, 2023, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen began firing anti-ship missiles and drones over the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to the Navy.
On Oct. 19, the USS Carney shot down cruise missiles and several drones that were launched by Houthis.
Since 2014, Houthi rebels have been involved in a civil war with the government in Yemen, which is located on the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula and shares borders with Saudi Arabia and Oman. Its coastline runs along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The Carney’s actions at the time came amid spiking violence and attacks in the Middle East in the two weeks after Hamas militants launched a surprise assault against Israel on Oct. 7 killing more than 1,000 Israelis.
Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of the 5th Fleet at the time, visited the Carney in January to award medals to several sailors who helped shoot down 14 Houthi drones on Dec. 16. The 5th Fleet’s area of responsibility includes the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean.
For the latest combat awards, imminent danger pay is not authorized for the region. The awards are limited to times when the sailor received hostile fire pay.
