I'm John Batchel, Gordon Chang, at Gordon Chi Chang is here as my colleague and co-host,

and we welcome Rebecca Grant to interpret headlines for us to do with the U.S. Navy and

especially operations in the Persian Gulf.

The constant needs of the president to continue the attack against the Iranians and their allies, that would be North Korea and

Moscow and Beijing, requires the carriers on station to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

And the headline, U.S. carrier that left mid-east over fire has other problems.

Subhead to explain.

The USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Suda Bay Naval Base in the island of Crete on March 23rd.

So this is the Gerald Ford pulling back from the theater.

Now, as I recall, the Gerald Ford is brand new, and this would perhaps be its first major military operation in which there's combat involved. So we welcome Rebecca Grant, the vice president

of the Lexington Institute, to help us not only with U.S. Navy protocol during combat, but also a carrier as flashy as the Gerald Ford now leaving theater.

Rebecca, a very good day to you. Everything I just said could be wrong because the Navy has particular language for these events.

They're not accidents. They're not alarms. They're expected during combat operations.

What do we know happened and what can be done? Good evening to you.

Yes, if it was up to me, the headline would read, USS Gerald R. Ford pulls into port

after incredibly successful combat mission shooting down drones and attacking targets

in Iran. Now, we also know there was a fire in the laundry spaces aboard the Ford. It was

contained, but it was serious enough to give smoke inhalation injuries to several sailors.

There made a wise decision to come back into

court. They would have needed to do this port call anyway to restock and replenish. They actually

made a port call prior to the start of Operation Epic Fury. As for the Ford, remember, she came

straight from the combat operations around Venezuela back to the Mediterranean, supporting

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