Shooting from the USS Gridley ship in the Gulf of Oman

In mid-July, in the heat and tension of the southern waters of the Gulf of Oman, the crew of the USS missile destroyer Gridley (DDG-101) began fire drills. The American warship Arleigh Burke conducted a series of exercises in this area using on-board weapons, including well-known 7.62-mm universal M240B machine guns.

Fire exercises using 7.62-mm UKM M240B aboard USS Gridley

It was seemingly a routine exercise sequence, another entry in the U.S. Central Command Register (CENTCOM). But – as often happens in such actions – there is more than a procedure behind each trigger. It's also a reminder of your presence. Show that the V Fleet of the US Navy does not hang a white flag on any watershed that it considers strategic.

According to the official command message, the training was defensive, but it was not accidental in the area where freedom of navigation is being violated every move, and the Bab al-Mandab and Ormuz Straits are becoming a stage for the increasingly bold actions of the Yemeni armed group Huti.

Not only is the USS destroyer behind these events Gridley, but also the question – is this presence still just to ensure commercial security of transit, or something more? Because every training, every series of shots fired from an M240B on-board machine gun is a signal. He has been sent not only to those who are trying to test the limits of international maritime law, but also to allies who need certainty that someone is holding their hand on the pulse.

Permanent presence of US Navy in Gulf waters

USS Gridley (DDG-101) carries out tasks within the V Fleet U.S. Navy maritime component, acting as part of a strike group that has been continuously present in the Gulf and Arab Sea waters for years. It is a presence that does not require great declarations – it is enough that the silhouettes of American ships regularly intersect the waves near the straits, which the world usually remembers about only when it gets hot again.

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Destroyer It's the same ship that was last seen with the USS aircraft carrier. Nimitz (CVN–68) in a port on Guam Island. Their presence was not accidental – it was part of a broader pattern in which the presence of the US fleet serves not only the support of allies but also the deterrence of those who like to test the limits of maritime law.

The CENTCOM area of operation – including the strategic Straits of Ormuz and Bab al-Mandab – remains one of the most important operating theatres of the US Navy. It is here that energy, commercial and military interests intersect, and every naval exercise and patrol is not only a matter of combat readiness, but also a geopolitical signal. Since the beginning of the year, the US Navy has carried out several training operations and escort missions, the goal of which is clear: to ensure maritime safety on shipping routes and to remind you that maritime space control is not a luxury today – it is the responsibility of a global player.

CENTCOM: theatre of activities where routine ends in a second

It is not enough to have a modern ship – you still have to have a crew who knows how to use it when seconds are at stake. Onboard weapons exercises carried out on board the USS destroyer Gridley, are therefore not just a formality in the calendar. It's a process that needs to work without hesitation in an emergency.

In the realities of today's CENTCOM naval theatre, where any fishing boat may be a carrier of deadly cargo, the ability to quickly move from routine to combat mode becomes not so much desirable as the existential competence of the crew.

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On Arleigh Burke ships, this means full use of the entire range of weapons – from small-caliber weapons to automatic cannons, to guided anti-aircraft missiles. But as important as technology, it is a combination of seafarers and systems – this is what is based on the ability to work together, which is so often referred to in documents NATO doctrinal, which in practice boils down to one thing: to act together, quickly and effectively.

The Central Command of the United States has no doubt – training like this is necessary today. In a region where Huti militants can paralyze the shipping with several precise drone or rocket strikes, and incidents in international waters occur increasingly, continuous improvement of combat capabilities is a condition for maintaining control and deterrence. Otherwise, it is not international law, but a violent force begins to dictate conditions.

Written by Mariusz Dasiewicz