thinking about that bbc piece again where they visited a US navy ship, and everyone interviewed moaned about missing their treats and being homesick...

US Navy aircraft carrier faces relentless battle against Houthi attacks (18 Mar 2024)

Unlike the Houthis, they're away from home with few creature comforts. Every meal on board is literally feeding the five thousand. The food bill on the carrier alone is $2m (£1.6m) a month.

Captain Chris Hill, the commanding officer of Ike, says "people need breaks, they need to go home".

But he says they don't yet have dates for when that'll happen. So one of his tasks is to maintain the crews morale and resilience.

He even has a dog on board to help. Demo, a facility dog who's been trained for life on the carrier, walks the mess decks to help lift the crew's spirits.

and...

Captain Hill says: "It's difficult to define winning and losing in this kind of conflict."

"Ideally, we want to stop every Houthi attack."

When I ask whether that's achievable, he replies that it's "hard to say".