Major Timothy Warren

Aircraft carriers have been at the forefront of multinational operations against Houthi rebels in Yemen since late 2023. This mission, which typically employs just one of the 11 U.S. aircraft carriers at any given time, comes in addition to naval aviation’s myriad global commitments. The aircraft carrier is both an enduring symbol of U.S. power and a physical manifestation of it.

Lieutenant Colonel Warren enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2003 and commissioned in 2008. He is an aviation logistician who served as maintenance officer at Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101 in Miramar, California, and in numerous other aviation logistics and training billets. He is the expeditionary strike group readiness officer at Naval Air Force Atlantic. He has supported logistics and aviation maintenance efforts in Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and Inherent Resolve.

The War of 2026 scenario in the December 2023 Proceedings presents a problem for U.S. naval forces that requires assistance from joint partners—the need to project force in the defense of allies within the first island chain.1 Solving this problem requires getting sufficient assets into the first island chain to demonstrate to allies that the United States will defend them with strike aircraft.