USS Abraham Lincoln returns to San Diego after extended deployment

The carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrived back in San Diego Bay on Oct. 8, following a deployment exceeding 10 months that featured a record 265 days continuously at sea, US news outlets reported. US defense secretary Pete Hegseth visited the carrier and presented its crew with a Presidential Unit Citation during the homecoming period.¹⁴

A prolonged deployment

The carrier’s deployment lasted 322 days, NPR reported, while USNI News put the strike group’s deployment at 321 days. Both accounts described an uninterrupted 265-day stretch at sea, a record cited by the outlets. The deployment had begun from San Diego and included a port call in Guam on Dec. 11, 2025, according to USNI News.¹⁵

The Lincoln arrived in the Middle East in January and was relieved there by the USS George Washington in August, NPR reported. The carrier later made a stop in Thailand while travelling back across the Pacific, according to NPR and the Guardian. The Guardian reported that the Lincoln had been redirected to the Middle East after the United States and Israel began their war on Iran.¹²

According to NPR, the Lincoln strike group carried out almost 3,700 combat sorties, fired 450 Tomahawk missiles, shot down 77 one-way attack drones, sank 64 Iranian vessels and eliminated 21 anti-ship cruise missiles. Al Jazeera described the ship’s mission as support for the US-Israel war on Iran.¹³

Official recognition and disputes over conditions

Hegseth told sailors that the deployment had not been easy and awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, which the Guardian said is granted to armed-forces units for extraordinary heroism against an armed enemy. He criticised press coverage that, he said, had sought to turn the Lincoln into “a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission.”¹²³

Accounts of the deployment were also marked by reports of supply shortages, limited meal choices and worsening morale and mental health among some personnel. The Guardian reported allegations that food and basic supplies had run short, and that two military newspapers had reported two attempts by sailors to jump overboard. Those reports have not been independently confirmed in the dossier.²

The Navy initially played down problems on the carrier before later acknowledging some issues, NPR reported. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said food stocks aboard the Lincoln remained sufficient, though he acknowledged that combat activity limited resupply opportunities and briefly narrowed the available meal choices. Navy officials said they were taking steps intended to avoid similar problems on future deployments.¹²

NPR and the Guardian reported that Cao told legislators eight personnel assigned to the Lincoln and its strike group had attempted suicide while deployed. Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, said an extended time at sea “is uniquely challenging and tough,” but added that “this doesn’t mean that all is perfect.”¹²

Homecoming and political response

The Associated Press and Al Jazeera reported that relatives and friends welcomed crew members as the carrier came home to Naval Air Station North Island near San Diego. Sailor Abel Ramirez said: “It feels amazing.” He told NPR there had been a point during the deployment when he did not think he would get off the ship.¹³⁴

President Donald Trump rejected criticism of the deployment and said it had lasted “not nearly long enough,” according to NPR and Al Jazeera. Hegseth also said reporting had been “completely misrepresented,” according to the Guardian. The Guardian reported that Democratic representatives Kirsten Gillibrand and Sara Jacobs demanded accountability, with Jacobs saying she would keep seeking an inspector general inquiry and a field hearing by the House Armed Services Committee.¹²³