I think the illusion of supremacy helps at the political level. Military heads might know that it's not real but politicians are genuinely affected by the illusion of total supremacy and it informs their decision making, reducing acts of hubris.

✍️ US of A... is a... balsa wood... bobcat

He also tried to tell me that war isn't necessarily political and when I asked him to give me an example of a non-political war goal, he said stopping a genocide

EDIT: He also used that exact same argument about Vietnam. His "proof" was that the Korean War with its indiscriminate bombing was a draw but the Vietnam War, where US forces were "prevented from bombing Hanoi by politicians" was a total defeat

MacArthur moment

Damn these maneuver pics are crazy

There was this incident with the carrier, so there's pretty strong indication that it was in fact under threat

Yes that's true of course, but it doesn't have much to do with the press release you posted, which mainly focuses on the wild weasel mission performed, the pilot intentionally baiting out anti aircraft fire. The maneuvering of the aircraft carrier pictured is about defending against anti ship ballistic missiles, which is a whole other topic, a very interesting one in terms of area denial tactics. The press release mentions shooting down cruise missiles and one way attack drones though

As the 480th EFS commander, Parks led the squadron to a record 108 aerial victories against enemy Unmanned Aerial Systems and Land Attack Cruise Missiles. Additionally, Parks guided innovative employment standards by using air-to-ground AGR-20F rockets in an air-to-air role and prioritizing older AIM-9M missiles, saving more than $25 million dollars in munitions costs and leading to the first successful AIM-9M combat employment in 30 years.

Parks has been credited with six aerial victories protecting the lives of more than 5,000 Sailors aboard the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75)

The AGR-20F APKWS is a good anti drone and cruise missile solution, because one F-16 or F-15 can equip 42 of them, and they're about 22 000 USD each, compared to hundreds of thousands for modern air to air missiles, which have a much smaller magazine capacity on the aircraft, usually 6-8 at maximum. There are also specialised air to air versions of it now, though it's a laser guided rocket, so not much of a difference. The AIM-9M is however quite old and therefore significantly cheaper than most air to missiles, hence cost savings mentioned.

108 aerial victories for a squadron, and an individual pilot shooting down 6 aerial targets, is not a record number anymore though. A US F-15E squadron based in Jordan shot down over 150 during the Israel - Iran conflict, with some pilots shooting down over 20 drones and cruise missiles.

The part about SAM launches vs F-35s is actually mentioned in another press release, linked here, you'll probably find this interesting.

“This is the first time anyone has been shot at in 20 years – actually carrying out the Wild Weasel mission. It’s the first time we’re carrying novel weapons on the F-35, bombing into tunnels, double-tapping targets with deep-penetration weapons,” Osborne said....

“To see the squadron grow and get to a spot where the Airmen are comfortable living and working in a place where you're being shot at and still be experts … to watch SAM launches happen (during Rough Rider) and see guys go toward it and jump on their targets. It was impressive to see,” Osborne said.

On the airstikes vs Iranian nuclear facilities

Our weapons officer was the overall mission commander,” Osborne said. “We employed weapons to great effect against surface-to-air missile sites… while they were trying to target us with some very high high-end systems and they were just unable to. … It was cool to see the jet detect and defeat things – to watch it do exactly what it was designed to do.”

The formation of F-35s were the last to leave. They were never fired upon. But, upon their return, they were prepared for retaliation.

“From that point forward, we’re operating under alarm yellow and alarm red conditions, dispersing aircraft and people, expecting ballistic missile attacks, preparing for casualties and medical evacuations. It was wild,” Osborne said.