Lincoln quagmire: From US show of force against Iran to cry for help

📡 Lincoln quagmire: From US show of force against Iran to cry for help 📌 London, IRNA – The prolonged deployment of the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has raised concerns over the mental and physical well-being of its crew, with families of sailors and Marines pressing US Navy officials for answers about their living conditions and the timing of the carrier’s return home. Around 200 family members met with acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao last Thursday at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, raising concerns about the crew’s mental health, shortages of food and essential supplies, water quality and living conditions aboard the carrier, according to US media reports. ​ The Daily Beast reported that Navy commanders acknowledged the strain caused by the prolonged deployment on service members, their families and the Navy’s ability to maintain the long-term well-being of its personnel. Officials did not provide a specific date for the carrier’s return. ​ Concerns about the crew’s condition had surfaced earlier. Stars and Stripes reported that crew members had raised concerns about their physical and mental health and described severe fatigue after months at sea. ​ The Lincoln left San Diego on November 21, 2025, with more than 5,000 sailors and Marines. Its deployment, initially expected to last around seven months, was extended following the US attack on Iran, and its crew has now entered its ninth month away from home. ​ The carrier reached 207 consecutive days at sea on July 6, surpassing the previous record set by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower during the COVID-19 pandemic. It later spent a brief period in Oman after 208 uninterrupted days at sea. ​ Reports have also highlighted problems aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford, including a laundry-room fire that reportedly affected nearly 200 sailors and damaged around 100 sleeping areas. The carrier eventually returned to the United States after a 295-day deployment. ​ The newly released reports have given a different meaning to the term “help.” US President Donald Trump dispatched warships to West Asia after claiming that “help was on its way” to Iran, where protests over economic conditions in January were hijacked by foreign-backed terrorists. ​ Now, more than six months after Trump’s propaganda campaign, the word “help” is being heard in a very different context—not as a claim by the US president that assistance was on its way to exert pressure on Iran, but as a plea coming from the crew of the Abraham Lincoln. ​ The Lincoln, which was supposed to symbolize Washington’s show of force and military pressure against Iran, is now itself caught in the quagmire of a protracted and exhausting mission, with calls for help coming not from Tehran, but from the carrier’s deck and from the families of US service members in San Diego. 📲 ​