The deployment began last November and has since been extended twice, with no indication of when the carrier will return to base. Furious families say the US Navy is not giving them straight answers.

Families of the marines serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, along with members of the US Congress, are sounding the alarm over the physical and mental health of its crew.

The Lincoln, which is taking part in the campaign against Iran with roughly 5,000 sailors and marines on board, has now spent nine months at sea. That is far longer than the typical US Navy deployment, which usually lasts six to seven months with regular port calls.

Since last November, the crew has set foot on land for just two days: in Guam in December and in Oman in July.

Navy-focused outlets Navy Times and Stars and Stripes have reported attempts by sailors to jump ship. Newsweek says at least two sailors have tried to jump into the sea.

The wife of one sailor said she received a message from him reading “I hope I don’t wake up tomorrow“, according to The Guardian. She believes he will be discharged, and that having reached his limit, his 13-year Navy career could collapse overnight, another woman said of her own husband’s fears.

In a separate incident, one sailor grabbed a colleague to stop him from jumping into the sea.

The toll that stress takes on aircraft carrier crews is nothing new to the US Navy: exhaustion, a noisy environment and inadequate care, including for mental health.

The carrier itself is also “suffering”, with maintenance falling behind and supplies running low.

Sailors describe mould in the showers, broken toilets, laundry left unwashed for weeks, no hot water, and no soap, deodorant or toothpaste. As for food, they say meals have been reduced to a little rice and two tortillas.

About 200 relatives of the crew relayed what they had heard from their loved ones to Navy leadership during a meeting last week in San Diego. Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao and other senior officials were present. A second meeting was later held by video call, according to Newsweek.

“Trust between us and Navy leadership has now been destroyed,” one woman who attended the meeting said.

The Lincoln left San Diego, California, on 21 November 2025 for a deployment to the Pacific. When war broke out against Iran, it was ordered to sail for the Middle East, where it remains. The deployment had been due to end in May but has since been extended twice.

At the meeting with relatives, officials said the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group would relieve the Lincoln, though it remains unclear exactly when.

Complaints had begun circulating since April over water and food shortages, described as rationed, as well as broken washing machines. The response from Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was to dismiss the reports as “fake news”.