The USS Abraham Lincoln, a US aircraft carrier carrying 5,000 sailors and Marines, is returning home after a gruelling nine-month deployment. The vessel is now heading back to San Diego, California, a journey that could take several weeks.
Record-breaking deployment raises concerns
The ship has been at sea since November 2025 and has spent a record 250 days consecutively without making land. Families of those on board have raised concerns about poor living conditions and mental health amid the extended deployment.
Two American military news outlets reported suicide attempts, shortages of basic supplies, safety concerns, and mental health issues on the vessel.
Families speak out about conditions
The mother of a sailor aboard the Lincoln told NBC News that her son had expected to be deployed for six months. She said she finally heard from him about a month after the February 28 strikes, and he mentioned he was hungry and losing weight. "He was just eating what he could eat," she said.
The wife of another sailor told The Guardian that she has been getting brief glimpses over the past few months of life on the aircraft carrier. As the deployment continued, she noticed a change in her husband's messages. "There's less hope in the way he talks and less positive things that he has to say," she said, adding that he is "exhausted". She described sparse meals, including "a couple of pieces of bacon and three or four chicken wings". "To put it plainly, I just don't think they're getting enough calories."
Navy acknowledges challenges
Admiral Brad Cooper of US Central Command visited the ship over the weekend. A statement released said the vessel "currently has among the lowest number of cases related to mental health" of the navy's 11 active aircraft carriers, but acknowledged "that doesn't mean all is perfect".
The USS George Washington warship is expected to relieve the aircraft carrier after it arrived in the Middle East on Wednesday, August 19.
