Navy fighter pilots and sailors return home after months of fending off fierce Houthi attacks

US Navy fighter pilots returned to Virginia relieved on Friday after months of being shot down Rockets fired by the Houthis and drones off the coast of Yemen in the fiercest naval battle the Navy has seen since World War II.

F/A-18 Super Hornets flew in low formation over waiting families before landing at their base in Virginia Beach. Dressed in green flight suits, the pilots hugged women in sundresses and children carrying American flags. Some presented their wives and daughters with red roses.

“We’re going to sit on the couch and try to make up for nine months of lost time,” said Commander Jaime Moreno as he hugged his two young daughters, ages 2 and 4, and kissed his wife, Lynn.

Moreno sounded emotionless, saying he couldn’t be prouder of his team and “everything the last nine months have brought.”

The Aircraft carrier battle group USS Dwight D. Eisenhowerwhich includes three other warships, protected merchant ships under fire and Allied warships in a vital Red Sea corridor leading to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.

“Honestly, it was completely unbelievable,” Lt. Commander Charity Somma told CBS News. “I don’t think anyone on board that carrier strike group expected something like this to happen.”

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have attacked ships They have links to Israel, the US or the UK and claim that this is a campaign to support the militant group Hamas in its war against Israel. However, they have often targeted ships that had no clear connection to Israel or its supporters, endangering shipping on a key route of global trade.

The USA and its allies have struck back: In a volley of fire in January, F/A-18s of the Eisenhower and other ships shoot down 18 drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles and a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis.

U.S. Marines have seen incoming Houthi missiles seconds before they were destroyed by their ships’ defense systems. Officials at the Pentagon have talked about how to care for the sailors when they return home, including counseling and treatment for possible post-traumatic stress disorder.

Commander Benjamin Orloff, a Navy pilot, told reporters in Virginia Beach on Friday that most of the sailors, including himself, were not used to coming under fire given the country’s previous military deployments over the past few decades.

“It was incredibly different,” Orloff said. “And I’ll be honest, it was a little traumatizing for the group. It’s something we don’t think much about until we’re confronted with it.”

At the same time, Orloff said that the sailors responded with courage and resilience.

“It is impressive how all these sailors immediately got back on their feet and, despite the threat and stress, continued to do their jobs without reproach,” said Orloff, adding that it was “one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.”

When asked by CBS News if what they were witnessing could be described as the most intense naval battles since World War II, Orloff said the description was “quite accurate.”

“The proximity to the enemy and the fact that we were carrying out self-defense strikes,” Orloff said. “This was not a long-range target. This was … right under our noses.”

Navy officials said the carrier battle group fired more than 400 air-to-surface missiles and 55 air-to-air missiles.

“We dropped a bomb in every air battle and then the silhouette of an airborne target in every air-to-air battle,” Orloff said.

The carrier battle group left Virginia in mid-October. Its deployment was extended twice because it was important in the unstable region to have a powerful carrier battle group that could launch fighter jets at any time.

The months of fighting and extensions meant additional stress for around 7,000 sailors and their families.

Caitlyn Jeronimus, whose husband Keith is a Navy lieutenant commander and pilot, said she initially thought the deployment would be relatively simple and involve some exercises with other NATO countries. But then Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and plans changed.

“It should be, if you can call it that, an entertaining mission in which he would visit many ports,” said Jeronimus.

She said the Eisenhower’s plans were constantly changing, which was exacerbated by the knowledge that “there were people who wanted to harm the ship.”

Jeronimus relied on naval advisors.

Her two children, aged five and eight, are old enough to understand “that Dad hasn’t been here for a long time,” she said. “It was stressful.”