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The US military is pushing back on reports of a mental health crisis among crewmembers on board the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which has been at sea for more than 260 days as it takes part in Washington’s operations in the Middle East.
In a post on social media, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said there had been “several false claims” and “rampant misreporting” relating to the carrier’s deployment and that the crew remained “resilient and resolved.”
Concerns have been growing in recent days over the welfare of the crew and the conditions on the ship, the US’s fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and one of the largest warships in the world.
US Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, wrote to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao on Wednesday listing the reported problems and demanding to know what action was being taken.
“There have been widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns, and disruptions in the mail system, which have caused many care packages in route to the ship to be lost in transit for months,” Blumenthal wrote, adding that “recent carrier deployments have repeatedly stretched beyond their originally anticipated durations.”
Speaking during a trip to Panama on Thursday, Hegseth said the conditions – many of which had been reported by the military outlets the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes – were “completely misrepresented.”
“We make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment,” he said. “Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody.
CENTCOM has confirmed that one Sailor “fell overboard” on 3 August but said they were “quickly and safely recovered” from the water.
The USS George Washington aircraft carrier is reportedly now set to take over from the Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East.
The US’s Nimitz-class aircraft carriers are used to operate fighter aircraft and to help support ground troops overseas. They are also used for maritime security operations against terrorist threats or to protect merchant shipping.
The Abraham Lincoln has been taking part in Operation Epic Fury, US President Donald Trump’s military campaign against Iran.
The operation began with a series of strikes in late February and aims to “dismantle the Iranian regime’s security apparatus.”