USS Abraham Lincoln’s record nine-month Arabian Sea deployment produced severe crew strain—food shortages, contaminated water, broken systems, exhaustion, and reported overboard attempts.

Iranian strikes on Bahrain and other bases forced a shift to distant logistics hubs such as Diego Garcia, creating long contested supply lines that worsened the hardships.

Officials downplayed the crisis as resilience and media exaggeration while scheduling a port call, eventual return home, and replacement by USS George Washington.

The conflict with Iran continues to deliver its mean shocks to an increasingly doddering US imperium.  Depleted munitions, depleted stocks of goodwill and, it would seem, a disruption in resupplying warships operating in the Middle East, have become dents in a struggling war machine. 

This month, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, lengthily stationed in the Arabian Sea, caught the attention of naval observers with reports of mental distress and sheer desperation on the part of members of the 5,000-strong crew of sailors and Marines.  Personnel had endured a nine-month deployment – a record – having made only one stop in Guam in mid-December since leaving San Diego.  (The previous record had been set by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in a stint lasting 206 days during the COVID-19 pandemic.)  Shortages of fresh food and necessaries, the presence of contaminated water, broken latrines, plumbing problems, disruptions in the mail system and exhaustion were just some of the things noted.   On August 12, the Navy Times revealed instances where individual crew members had tried to jump overboard.  Similar details were also reported in Stars and Stripes.

Meetings........

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