JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Mayport-based Navy ship, the USS Mason, is still overseas fighting alongside Israel.
First Coast News' military expert Retired Vice Admiral Rick Snyder, who served as a commanding officer on a Naval ship and as a strategist at the Pentagon, weighed in on what the future may hold for those sailors in light of the recent Iranian attack on Israel.
“I’m sure the sailors are ready for this," said Snyder. "It’s what they’ve trained for, and it’s what we’re there for. I’m sure there’s a little bit of worry, but also, a real focus on, this is our mission. It’s what we’re here for, it’s what we’re trained to do, and we’re going to get it done.”
As someone with decades of military experience, Snyder says the Jacksonville-based sailors on the USS Mason should feel trained to handle Iran’s attack, preventing as much damage from the missiles as possible.
However, he says those sailors likely have a question in the back of their mind.
“It really sends the signal that Iran is willing to escalate this a little bit, so the concern is, how far does this go, and what is the Israeli response going to be to it," said Snyder.
Snyder points out Israel has said over and over again it doesn’t want Iran to get a nuclear capability.
“Is this their excuse or opportunity to really strike into Iran to try to either destroy or severely limit Iranian ability to develop nuclear weapon capabilities," said Snyder.
The USS Carney was also deployed from Mayport into the conflict at one point, and Snyder says the odds of it getting redeployed or other Mayport ships going into the conflict really depend on what Israel does next.
“This could be a big deal, and it’s something that’s going to have to be handled very carefully, both militarily and diplomatically, to try to keep this contained," said Snyder.