EDITOR’S NOTE: This story contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, help is available. In the US, call or text 988 for help. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide have contact information for crisis centers around the world.
A sailor went overboard earlier this month off of the USS Abraham Lincoln, three US officials told, amid reports of worsening mental health for crew members on the ship during an extended deployment for the Iran war. The sailor was rescued within an hour, according to one of the officials, and was medically evaluated. A different official said that the sailor had gone overboard wearing a life vest and was not injured, adding that the Navy considered the incident a mental health episode. The sailor had been assigned to an air wing on the ship, the third official said, and was recovered “by an air wing search and rescue helicopter, treated by Abraham Lincoln’s medical department, and transferred off ship for follow-on care.” One of the officials described the seas as rough and specified that the incident had occurred on August 3.
Since the Lincoln left its home port of San Diego last November, the aircraft carrier has been deployed for more than 250 days after being redirected to the Middle East to support US operations in the war with Iran, now entering its sixth month. With more than 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard, it has not made a port call in more than 200 days, setting a modern-day record for consecutive days at sea, according to Sen. The USS George Washington carrier group, which finished a port visit in Vietnam on August 5, is currently headed to the Middle East to replace the Lincoln, a separate US official told. The official noted that the swap had been previously planned, though it was not immediately clear when the Washington would arrive.
On Wednesday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut and a member of the Armed Services Committee, wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Acting Secretary of the Navy to express “serious concern” about the increasing length of deployments and demand answers. “There have been widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns,” he said in the letter, as well as “disruptions in the mail system, which have caused many care packages in route to the ship to be lost in transit for months.” Blumenthal emphasized that the Department of Defense owes the crew adequate supplies, maintenance, and support during this arduous deployment.
In a statement to, the US Navy said, “We have not observed an increase in suicidal ideations or attempts aboard the ship. We take the health and welfare of our sailors seriously.” The first US official said that the Navy’s internal tracking of reports of suicidal ideation on the ship had gone down in recent months, though news outlets including Stars and Stripes and the Navy Times reported this week that there had been multiple attempts by crew members to jump overboard. According to both the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, around 200 family members of Lincoln crew members voiced concerns over mental health and living conditions during a recent town hall meeting.
During that town hall, a spouse tearfully told officials that she received a message that same day from her husband saying “he hopes he doesn’t wake up.” Among the other concerns raised were reports of a lack of supplies, food shortages, water contamination, and mail system disruptions. In one meeting, Vice Adm. Joseph Cahill, commander of Naval Surface Forces, acknowledged the strain on sailors and their families. As reported previously, the Navy as a whole faces issues with sailor burnout, and aviation personnel, from pilots to maintainers, are leaving the service at a high rate, according to multiple sources familiar with internal Navy discussions.
On Thursday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that conditions on the Lincoln had been “completely misrepresented” while talking to reporters. “We make sure every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment,” he said. “Some of these things are just the nature of being at sea for a long time.” Democratic Rep. Mike Levin of California referenced the meeting in a post on X Friday, saying families described a dire situation. Officials at Thursday’s meetings with Lincoln crew family members would not say when the carrier would return home, citing operational security, spouses told the Stars and Stripes. “The men and women aboard the Lincoln have answered the call to serve their country,” Blumenthal wrote in his letter to the Pentagon, underscoring the urgency of the situation. The report also notes that “Sailors so worn down that, according to one family member, the ship’s own doctor warned they need to reach port soon or people are going to start losing their minds,” he wrote. The report also notes that in its report released Tuesday, Stars and Stripes said its interviews with active-duty sailors and family members, as well as “dozens of public social media comments and posts” by crew, described sailors “struggling with. The report also notes that “He thinks he’ll get a dishonorable discharge, and just because he was burnt out, his 13-year career is ruined, just like that. The report also notes that “Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody. The report also notes that what they do in those high seas in those austere conditions with less port calls — it’s incredible.”. The report also notes that in its report released Tuesday, Stars and Stripes said its interviews with active-duty sailors and family members, as well as “dozens of public social media comments and posts” by crew, described sailors “struggling with exhaustion and declining morale, including reports of suicidal thoughts and at least one instance where a crew member was prevented from jumping overboard.”. The report also notes that the journalist who wrote the Navy Times’ report, Natalie Oliverio, said Loma had not heard from Navy representatives in weeks and is “extremely worried and concerned about how her husband is actually doing.”, in an interview with. The report also notes that oliverio said Loma faces the stresses of having a spouse deployed while raising their three little children, “so not being able to have answers or direction is really challenging right now for her especially.”.