The leader of U.S. Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, wrote Sunday that his recent visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln was “awe-inspiring” and hailed the crew’s “resilience” following rising concerns about mental health and deteriorating conditions aboard the aircraft carrier.
Loved ones of some of the thousands aboard the ship have described to NBC News and other news organizations a lack of supplies and food and an overall deteriorating mental health situation with multiple sailors having attempted to jump overboard.
The ship has not made a port call in more than 200 days, setting a modern-day record for consecutive days at sea, according to Democratic lawmakers who have called for answers.
Cooper wrote in a statement posted on social media on Sunday that the Lincoln had the lowest number of mental health cases of the Navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers. But he did seem to acknowledge the difficulty of the deployment.
“This doesn’t mean that all is perfect. Find any of the nearly 4 million Navy veterans in America today and they will likely tell you that service at sea for long periods isn’t for everyone. It is uniquely challenging and tough, and every single one of us, including me, reacts to stressors in different ways,” he said on X.
“I’ve long believed that mental health is another aspect of individual health and requires our attention just like physical health and spiritual health. I applaud Lincoln’s leadership — the senior enlisted leaders in the Chief Petty Officers Mess in particular — for stepping up and making mental health and crew resilience a leadership priority.”
The Lincoln left its home port of San Diego in November and was later redirected to the Middle East to support U.S. military operations in the war with Iran. The carrier has roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier this week that reports about conditions on the ship “completely misrepresented” the situation. President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed concerns about the length of the ship’s deployment, saying it was “not nearly long enough.”
The USS George Washington is expected to replace the Lincoln in the Middle East, a U.S. official told NBC News.
It could take several weeks for the replacement of the Lincoln by the George Washington to be complete. It will likely take at least two weeks for the Lincoln to return to its home base of San Diego.
