The more than 5,000 sailors and soldiers aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, one of the largest aircraft carriers in the United States fleet, have been deployed in the Persian Gulf for over 250 days due to the Iran war. They have not made port calls in over half a year, a new modern record for consecutive days at sea, and with no signs that the conflict will end soon, their families have reported a serious deterioration in living conditions and mental health.
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Several Democratic lawmakers have asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for explanations after specialized media Stars and Stripes and Navy Times revealed several attempts by crew members to jump overboard, information that the Pentagon has categorically denied. Senator Richard Blumenthal has written a letter to Hegseth and Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao expressing his “serious concern” about the conditions of their troops.
Mike Levin, Democratic Congressman
“Families warn of showers with mold, broken toilets, weeks without hot water, and meals reduced to half a cup of rice and two tortillas”
“There have been widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing problems, mental health deterioration, deck safety issues,” the Democratic senator lists in his letter. Additionally, there have been “interruptions in the mail system, causing many aid packages sent to the ship to be lost for months while in transit.”
Hegseth rejected the accusations this morning, calling them “completely misrepresented.” During a visit to Panama, he said they are ensuring that “every ship, every crew, and every captain have everything we can provide at all times.” He added: “Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anyone else. What they do at sea, in those austere conditions and with fewer port calls, is incredible.”
However, several U.S. media outlets reported this Thursday that the U.S. will send another aircraft carrier of the same size, the USS George Washington, to replace the Abraham Lincoln. The move, according to Administration sources cited by Reuters, “was already planned before” the poor conditions aboard came to light.
Several family members have posted on their social media messages exchanged with their loved ones aboard the aircraft carrier, describing these conditions. “The supply ship cannot bring fruit because it cannot stay fresh long enough until it reaches the ship,” says one of these messages. “The only fresh thing we can have is meat because it is frozen, but sometimes it arrives spoiled,” it continues.
“This is the worst deployment and I pray no other ship is going through the same. Even people who have been deployed a hundred times say this is the worst of all and believe it could get worse. The Navy doesn’t care: the mission comes first,” reads another message.
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Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, who before entering politics was deployed aboard the USS Midway aircraft carrier as a naval aviator and participated in 39 combat missions in the Gulf War, has also denounced the situation through his social media. “Reports from the USS Abraham Lincoln about multiple sailors attempting to throw themselves overboard are disturbing. Long deployments are hard. They are much harder when the mission is not well defined and there is no end in sight,” the senator posted on the social network X.
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Democratic Congressman Mike Levin stated that some family members of the crew have warned of “showers with mold, broken toilets, weeks without hot water, and meals reduced to half a cup of rice and two tortillas.” In a post on X, he added that “the sailors are so exhausted that, according to a family member, the ship’s own doctor warned they need to reach port soon or people will start losing their minds.”
The crew set sail from their home port in San Diego (California) last November, three months before the start of the joint U.S. and Israeli military campaign against Iran. Trump initially said it would be a “two-week excursion,” a period he later extended to “four or five.” But six months later Washington has not achieved any of its strategic objectives: the ayatollah regime remains standing and strengthened by its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, it has not definitively abandoned its nuclear program, and its allied militias maintain the capacity to attack U.S. and allied bases in the Gulf.
Despite the memorandum of understanding signed in June, in which both parties committed to a 60-day ceasefire and lifting their respective naval blockades, it fell apart and, despite new talks through mediators, there is no clear end in sight to the war, which Iran has promised to maintain past the midterm legislative elections in November.
The Pentagon denies the reports and states it has not detected “an increase in suicidal thoughts or attempts”
According to the specialized media that first reported the living conditions, about 200 family members of deployed crew have expressed their concerns to the Pentagon, but no solution has been offered. The U.S. Navy told CNN that it has not observed “an increase in suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts aboard the ship,” denying the reports. “We take the well-being of all service members very seriously and have religious, medical, and mental health professionals available.”
A recent survey by the U.S. network shows that 67% of citizens believe Trump’s decisions on Iran have harmed the country. The poor conditions of the soldiers could make this war even more unpopular, something that could cost Republicans in the November legislative elections.
