Navy commander who oversaw carrier strike group in Red Sea says US command rejected suggestions to hit the Houthis harder over concerns about Iran

• Rear Adm. Marc Miguez said US leaders declined more aggressive strategies with the Houthis.
• High command was concerned about Iran at the time, Miguez said in a recent video interview.
• Miguez was in charge of a carrier strike group that defended commercial ships in the Red Sea for months.

A US Navy commander who oversaw most of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group's eight-month deployment in the Red Sea said officers had suggested more aggressive strikes on the Houthis, but high command declined them.

Rear Adm. Marc Miguez said in an interview with the YouTuber Ward Carroll that the US National Command Authority had to consider Iran's response.

"There are definite strategies that were put forward, but our National Command Authority decided that those — I would call more aggressive postures and more aggressive strikes — was not something we wanted to challenge," Miguez said in the interview published Monday.

"We all know Iranian-backed groups like the Houthis , where that threat's emanating from," he said. "And so that is the calculus that's handled at echelon zero, at the National Command Authority, with NSA, and everybody else."

"Those are things that I don't dabble in," he added.

Miguez told Carroll that the carrier strike group launched seven dedicated attacks on Houthi targets during its twice-extended deployment from October 2023 to June 2024.

The group, which includes the aircraft carrier Ike, was previously reported to have launched more than 500 munitions to hit the Yemeni rebels directly and intercept their drones and missiles as they attacked commercial ships in the strait.

Since the Eisenhower group departed, the Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups have moved into the Middle East as regional tensions continue to soar.

Miguez indicated that he believed the US should adopt a more aggressive posture with the Houthis.

"Moving forward, we are going to have to continue to deal with this," he said. "It'll be up to our National Command Authority to probably be more aggressive with our strike groups and all of our assets, not just Navy."

The Houthis have said they only target ships linked with Israel over the war in Gaza. But the group has also launched attacks on vessels from other countries that have no apparent ties to Tel Aviv.

More recently, the rebel group attacked a Greek-flagged oil tanker that caught fire and was left drifting in the Red Sea.

Miguez said that to stop the attacks, the US needed to marshal all of its resources more aggressively, including diplomacy and economic policy.

"If we can get that focus with a whole-of-government approach, I think that's what's going to result in a freedom of navigation in that critical strait, which impacts about 20% of the global commerce," he said.

Miguez was appointed as the Navy's chief of legislative affairs in July.

Since leaving command of the Eisenhower carrier strike group, he's been vocal about the US needing more training to fight drones after seeing how extensively the Houthis used them in the Red Sea.

A US Navy spokesperson told Business Insider the force had nothing to add to Miguez's remarks.

August 27, 2023: This story was updated to reflect a response from the US Navy.