USS Abraham Lincoln deployment their “worst ever” – sailors
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The USS Abraham Lincoln deployment leaves sailors exhausted. After a grueling 286 days at sea, sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln are finally speaking openly about what they endured — and some are calling it the “worst deployment” of their careers.
Pentagon correspondent Priya Sridhar, a former U.S. Navy Reserve officer, traveled to Thailand as the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier finally reached port Wednesday. The roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard were able to step onto dry land for the first time in more than eight months.
The USS Abraham Lincoln deployment began when the San Diego-based carrier left home on Nov. 21, 2025. What was expected to be a far more conventional deployment was repeatedly extended as the U.S. military dramatically expanded operations against Iran.
CENTCOM says the Lincoln ultimately became one of the central American platforms supporting Operation Epic Fury, flying thousands of combat missions and participating in the U.S. naval blockade of Iran.
“Worst deployment they have ever experienced”
Sridhar said multiple rank-and-file sailors she spoke with described the deployment in striking terms.
Many called it the “worst deployment that they have ever experienced,” she reported. Sailors described the ordeal as extraordinarily difficult and said they were deeply worried that deployments of this length — without regular port calls — could become the new normal because of the Iran war.
Some were reportedly so exhausted that they said they would have preferred to skip the Thailand port visit altogether and sail directly home.
Their biggest priority after finally getting ashore was not tourism or partying. It was contacting their families.
Sridhar said sailors immediately wanted to FaceTime their spouses, children and parents after roughly nine and a half months away.
For many families, the deployment meant spouses effectively became single parents for most of a year.
Reports of rotten food, mold and clogged toilets
The USS Abraham Lincoln deployment had already become controversial weeks before the carrier reached Thailand.
Family members and sailors raised allegations of deteriorating conditions aboard the massive Nimitz-class carrier, including food shortages, rotten or barely edible meals, clogged toilets, mold and mildew in showers and growing concerns about sailors’ mental health.
At least one 19-year-old sailor reportedly jumped overboard in what his wife described as a suicide attempt. Navy documents later showed that the sailor faced possible disciplinary action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The allegations triggered fierce debate over how long sailors can reasonably be expected to remain deployed aboard a warship without meaningful breaks.
Yet reporting from aboard the vessel painted a more complicated picture. CNN journalists who visited the Lincoln reported aging infrastructure and some mold but also functioning showers and professional crews. One sailor said food quality had improved after previously becoming so poor that some crew members were losing weight.
CENTCOM pushes back
U.S. Central Command has strongly disputed portrayals of the USS Abraham Lincoln as a ship in crisis. CENTCOM said reports had included false or exaggerated claims and pointed to an 84.4 percent crew reenlistment rate, among the highest for U.S. aircraft carriers.
The military also emphasized the extraordinary operational tempo aboard the carrier: more than 10,000 aircraft flights and roughly 1.5 million pounds of ordnance expended during the deployment.
CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper praised the crew following a visit aboard the ship in August, calling the Lincoln strike group a team of “high-achieving Americans” and describing the deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era.
Trump: Deployment was “not nearly long enough”
President Donald Trump took an even harder line when questioned in August about complaints from sailors’ families.
Asked whether the deployment had gone on too long and whether he was concerned about the mental health of crew members, Trump responded: “No, no, no. Not nearly long enough.”
The remark immediately intensified the controversy surrounding the carrier.
Trump also rejected the premise that families were worried about conditions aboard the Lincoln and said the carrier would soon be replaced by another ship.
Meanwhile, sailors themselves now appear increasingly concerned about what the experience could mean for the future of the Navy.
Sridhar said crew members fear that prolonged combat deployments without regular port calls could hurt retention — particularly among younger sailors experiencing their first deployment.
After 286 days at sea, the USS Abraham Lincoln deployment has therefore become more than a story about one aircraft carrier.
It has become a test of how much strain the U.S. Navy can place on its sailors as the Iran war continues — and how long those sailors and their families are willing to bear it.
