OT - USS Abraham Lincoln 5,000 sailors and marines endure a record-breaking deployment at sea tied to the war with Iran

Investment Analysis Clubs Macro Economic Trends and Risks
1

Military families and Congress members are sounding the alarm about an intensifying mental health crisis onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, as its 5,000 sailors and marines endure a record-breaking deployment at sea tied to the war with Iran.

Two leading specialist military papers, the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, are reporting that there have been multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard as poor conditions and mental stresses on the Lincoln reach the breaking point. The crew is in its ninth month at sea, and has spent 250 days consecutively without making land – a record for an aircraft carrier in modern times.

ooo

Mike Levin, a Democratic member of Congress from California, has sounded the alarm over conditions onboard the warship, which is in its fifth month of combat operations against Iran. He described the lot of the crew on X as “moldy showers, broken toilets, laundry down for weeks, long stretches with no hot water, a meal that came down to half a cup of rice and two tortillas. No soap, deodorant, or toothpaste.”

Jason Crow, a Democratic Congress member from Colorado who is a former army ranger having served in Afghanistan and Iraq, has warned that the strain on service members and their families on the Lincoln is “building week by week”.

ooo

In April, there was a flurry of public criticism about dire conditions onboard the carrier. Photos emerged of poor-quality and rationed food, and there were reports of water shortages, moldy showers and broken laundry machines.

Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, dismissed the accounts as “more fake news”.

Levin responded to Hegseth’s remark this week. He said: “These men and women signed up to serve their country. The least their country owes them is hot water, a working toilet and a real meal. Hegseth cannot even manage that, and he has the nerve to look their families in the eye and call them liars.”

ooo

5 Likes
2

I too have seen reports of poorly fed military personnel. That is hard to believe. Provisioning ships should not be difficult. Sounds like a stingy spending problem.

Women on ships probably helps a little. Maybe the navy should adopt the British gin ration.

3

Things are going swimmingly. This is what “meritocracy” looks like.

Provisioning ships is not easy. It requires extremely competent logistical planning and highly technical execution.

Leadership shakeups impact operations. This is what “meritocracy” looks like.

So they can clean up the moldy showers? Maybe cook some decent meals? What do you mean?

Sure, drunk sailors will not want to jump off the ship as much as sober sailors. Great idea!

5 Likes
4

I think that you may be referring to the British rum ration given to sailors in the Royal Navy until 1970. Quite a generous pint a day apparently:

5

Provisioning a 5,000 sailors and marines (the size of a small town) requires supply ships every day. Already the hundreds of tankers and cargo ships stuck in the area are having the same problem.

5 Likes
6

Yes, and the fleet surrounding the carrier probably consists of dozens of other ships.

Stil the fleet needs provisions whereever it goes once it leaves port. You would think it would be followed by the necessary supply ships. Longer than planned cruise maybe means those supplies are depleted. Do they not have backup supply ships? Was this need not anticipated.

Bad planning. Stingy with funds. Should we call this a blunder?

7

We all know that the current administration did not properly plan for this war and long stalemate. They do not have the brains to cut their loses, agree to the previous MOU, and leave.

7 Likes
8

Not by the US planners who started the war. At the start of the war we had several threads discussing why the US strategy was guaranteed to fail. However, US politicians and military planners were clearly anticipating a quick end. In the early weeks of the war when it became clear their plans failed the US didn’t have Plan B. There were discussions of sending ground troops, but no troops were in place, a naval blockade was alternately imposed and lifted, the US floated false rumors that a deal was imminent, apparently nearly our entire stock of missiles has been fired, etc.

Most analysts agree the US cannot open the Strait by itself. After Iran closed the Strait the US issued a desperate plea to other nations for help, which was promptly rejected. Clearly, the US did not anticipate Iran closing the Strait and has no plan in place for how to keep it open.

One serious blunder is the US did not plan for attacks on the 5th Fleet HQ in Bahrain. Which of course was attacked and the base had to be evacuated. Iran shutting down our main naval operating base in the region is certainly contributing to the supply problems. To what degree I’m not certain but it can’t be good.

The USS Abraham Lincoln has been engaged in nearly constant combat operations since the war started. That has to be extremely mentally taxing. It is hard to believe the US is just now sending a replacement.

My best guess is that sending a replacement earlier would mean admitting the plan failed and so US leaders cruelly refused to do so.

10 Likes
9

Because of the story in “Stars and Stripes” the Pentagon Fires Editor and Publisher of Independent Military Publication

The firings at Stars and Stripes also claimed a Middle East correspondent. They are the latest effort by the Pentagon to diminish the news outlet’s editorial independence.

The Defense Department on Friday fired the publisher and the editor in chief of Stars and Stripes, a government-funded news outlet that reports on the U.S. military, according to a senior Pentagon official and the dismissed journalists.

The firings raised questions about the Pentagon’s willingness to ensure the editorial integrity of the publication that has reported extensively on difficulties faced by military communities as the war in Iran has dragged on. The terminations came about 10 days after Stars and Stripes journalists reported on hardships that Navy sailors were facing on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, the aircraft carrier whose deployment was extended to nine months amid the war.

On Friday, the Pentagon sent termination notices to Erik Slavin, the editor in chief, and Max Lederer, the publisher, who had announced his retirement earlier this week, citing conflict with the Pentagon leadership on the paper’s direction. Lara Korte, a Middle East correspondent at the news outlet, was also fired on Friday, according to the official and a post she made on social media.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/us/politics/pentagon-fires-stars-stripes-editor.html?campaign_id=60&emc=edit_na_20260821&instance_id=180760&nl=breaking-news&regi_id=33896451&segment_id=225220&user_id=6824c27a7b6ef3b8da605d4deae751fe

In April, the Pentagon fired Jacqueline Smith, the internal editorial watchdog of Stars and Stripes, after she criticized the agency for editorial interference. Congress created the watchdog position in 1991, designing it to report directly to lawmakers and to ensure the publication’s independent reporting. Ms. Smith has sued the Defense Department, claiming that it violated her First Amendment right.

8 Likes