- The Navy is sending more mental health support to the USS Abraham Lincoln as it prepares to leave the Middle East, following reports of poor conditions and mental health concerns among sailors.
- Acting Secretary Hung Cao confirmed that the USS Abraham Lincoln would soon sail home after an extended deployment, acknowledging that some sailors’ mental health had been treated on the aircraft carrier.
- The USS Abraham Lincoln, currently in its ninth month deployed and involved in combat operations against Iran, has faced quality-of-life issues and mental health concerns among its roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines.
The Navy is sending more mental health support to the USS Abraham Lincoln as it prepares to leave the Middle East, officials said. The effort comes as the Acting Secretary of the Navy acknowledged that the service had “treated” sailors’ mental health on the aircraft carrier
“The Navy is working to send additional resiliency counselors and social workers to augment the already robust mental health rerpose in a statement Friday.Â
On Friday, Acting Secretary Hung Cao confirmed that the USS Abraham Lincoln would soon sail home, following an extended deployment. His statement came after days of public concern from sailors’ families over poor conditions and reports of some sailors attempting to jump overboard
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“A small number of mental health cases were treated with no loss of life,” Cao said in a statement on X
The Abraham Lincoln is currently in its ninth month deployed, having spent most of that time at sea and involved in combat operations against Iran and a blockade mission of the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines are on the Lincoln
In its statement to Task & Purpose, the Navy said that in addition to the counselors and social workers being sent, the Lincoln already has five chaplains, a clinical psychologist, a clinical social worker, three behavioral health technicians and an embedded integrated prevention coordination counselor onboard. The ship also has an expeditionary facility dog, Capt. Fathom, “to support crew morale and emotional welfare,” officials said.Â
“The Lincoln was extended because the mission demanded it. Deployments are hard. Combat operations make them harder,” Cao wrote. “War is hell and normal routines are disrupted.”
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Cao’s statement comes after the service initially denied news reports about the mental health decline of sailors aboard the Lincoln earlier this week. Those came as sailors and military families reported dismal conditions aboard the ship and quality-of-life issues including a lack of clean drinking water and food shortages. This week, both Stars and Stripes and Military Times reported on cases where sailors tried to jump overboard from the Lincoln
On Thursday, U.S. Central Command officials said in a post on X that one sailor “fell overboard” on Aug. 3 and was “quickly and safely recovered.”
In a Wednesday statement to Task & Purpose, Navy officials said “based on information available to the command, we have not identified an increase in reported suicidal ideation or suicide attempts aboard the ship.”
Cao’s statement also addressed the reported quality of life issues. In his statement, Cao said that sailors’ meals were “adjusted when fresh resupply was unavailable without a single meal being missed” and that their calls to family and friends at home were “limited when the operational threat was too high.”
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The flurry of news coverage and posts on social media were also met with comments from the White House and Pentagon
On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said earlier reports “completely misrepresented” the conditions on the ship. He also said that the Pentagon makes sure every ship and crew has “everything we can provide them at every single moment.”Â
“Some deployments are longer than others,” Hegseth said. “I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody. What they do in those high seas and those austere conditions with less port calls, it’s incredible.”
Then on Friday, a reporter asked President Donald Trump about the growing concerns of Navy family members. Trump refuted it and said that the aircraft carrier was being replaced by a “similar ship” referring to the USS George Washington.Â
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The reporter also asked if the deployment — which broke records in July for the ship hitting 207 consecutive days at sea — had gone on too long. Trump said the deployment was “not nearly long enough.”
The Lincoln was originally expected to return home in May, but its deployment was extended. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Aug. 13 that the USS George Washington was being ordered to the Middle East to replace the Lincoln. The USS George Washington is currently in the South China Sea
The Lincoln left its home port in late November 2025, initially sailing in the Pacific. It was ordered to the Middle East soon after, as part of a buildup of American forces. It was joined by the USS Gerald R. Ford and its carrier strike group in early 2026. Both carriers took part in the opening strikes on Iran. Since then, the Lincoln has remained in the Middle East, taking part in combat operations against Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, with its deployment extended as the conflict continues. The Ford and Lincoln were joined by the USS George H.W. Bush in the spring, before the Ford sailed home after wrapping its own record-long deployment.Since leaving San Diego in November, the crew of the Lincoln has only stopped at port once: a two-day resupply stop at Guam in mid-December.
“There is no question our young men and women have been pushed to their limits—but they have never broken. They are rightly tired—but have never been out of the fight,” Cao said. “However, it is clear, knowing the whole story, our force and their families are not victims. They are the epitome of American strength and resilience.”
