Cape Coral Ida Baker Grad Serving Aboard Guided Missile Destroyer in the Red Sea
The Red Sea is one of the primary points of conflict in the world right now. And a Southwest Florida native is right in the middle of it. Petty Officer 2nd Class Anthony Rios is a native of Cape Coral, Florida and graduate of Ida Baker High School. He serves aboard the Guided Missile Destroyer USS Carney, currently deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.
Rios serves as a fire controlman and was aboard the ship on Oct. 19, when the crew of Carney shot down multiple land attack cruise missiles and unmanned aerial drones launched by Houthi forces in Yemen while the ship was operating in the northern Red Sea. The ship has since then engaged Houthi unmanned aerial drones on Nov. 29, Dec. 3 and Dec. 16. “I was the final piece to the puzzle in the firing chain launching seven missiles as the missile system supervisor,” said Rios. “The seven missiles I shot engaged two cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.”
The attack by the Houthi made national news.
Yemen’s Houthi, who were recently returned to a list of “terrorist” groups, continue to attack shipping in the Red Sea. Just yesterday they launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a U.S.-owned tanker ship. Although the missiles caused no damage, such attacks solidify the need of the mission of the U.S. Navy. That includes the U.S. 5th Fleet, on which Anthony Rios serves on the Guided Missile Destroyer.
Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers such as the USS Carney are outfitted with the world’s most sophisticated weaponry systems.
“Supporting the mission means everything to me because I can apply the knowledge I have learned from all the schooling I have been to,” said Rios. “Assisting in the protection of our allies and actually being able to launch the missiles after all of the training we went through means it was all worth it.”
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