Emotional Reunion: USS Abraham Lincoln Finally Pulls Into San Diego After Record Deployment
The US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has finally returned to port in San Diego after spending over ten months at sea - most of that time being engaged in war with Iran as part of Trump's Operation Epic Fury.
It made a badly needed port call in Thailand last month before traversing the Pacific Ocean to get back to its home port. The carrier spent a record 265 consecutive days at sea, and over 300 days in total on the deployment.
Via AP: Sailors stand aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier returns to Naval Air Station North Island after deployment Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Coronado, Calif
The plight of the Lincoln carrier and its crew of some 5,000 sailors and Marines grabbed international headlines for months, given reports of substandard living conditions, food and supply shortages, and mental health crises which led to attempted suicides among servicemembers.
The Navy later acknowledged some of the problems, such as resupply and logistics challenges, amid an avalanche of stories that included dangerous hygiene challenges and derelict facilities.
In late September, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao informed Congress that eight sailors in the USS Lincoln's carrier strike group attempted suicide during the lengthy and strained deployment.
US War Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the carrier on Wednesday when it docked, and in a ceremony awarded crew with the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest military award which can be bestowed on a unit.
Emotional reunions with families after grueling deployment:
He has resisted the constant criticism related to the Lincoln, which some reports and Congressman held up as "a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission." Hegseth said in his remarks aboard the ship:
The Lincoln departed its San Diego home base on Nov. 21, 2025, on what was supposed to be a seven-month deployment.
Sailors meeting their recently born children for first time:
After departing, the carrier made a mere one-day stop in Guam two weeks before Christmas. "[It] was so brief that much of the crew likely never went ashore," observed the War Zone's Ian Ellis-Jones.
Typically, a carrier crew might expect a port call every 30 to 45 days, with each break spanning around 3 to 5 days.
Tyler Durden Thu, 10/08/2026 - 21:20
Continue reading...
[ H/T ZeroHedge ]
The US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has finally returned to port in San Diego after spending over ten months at sea - most of that time being engaged in war with Iran as part of Trump's Operation Epic Fury.
It made a badly needed port call in Thailand last month before traversing the Pacific Ocean to get back to its home port. The carrier spent a record 265 consecutive days at sea, and over 300 days in total on the deployment.
Via AP: Sailors stand aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier returns to Naval Air Station North Island after deployment Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Coronado, Calif
The plight of the Lincoln carrier and its crew of some 5,000 sailors and Marines grabbed international headlines for months, given reports of substandard living conditions, food and supply shortages, and mental health crises which led to attempted suicides among servicemembers.
The Navy later acknowledged some of the problems, such as resupply and logistics challenges, amid an avalanche of stories that included dangerous hygiene challenges and derelict facilities.
In late September, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao informed Congress that eight sailors in the USS Lincoln's carrier strike group attempted suicide during the lengthy and strained deployment.
US War Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the carrier on Wednesday when it docked, and in a ceremony awarded crew with the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest military award which can be bestowed on a unit.
Emotional reunions with families after grueling deployment:
He has resisted the constant criticism related to the Lincoln, which some reports and Congressman held up as "a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission." Hegseth said in his remarks aboard the ship:
The Lincoln departed its San Diego home base on Nov. 21, 2025, on what was supposed to be a seven-month deployment.
Sailors meeting their recently born children for first time:
After departing, the carrier made a mere one-day stop in Guam two weeks before Christmas. "[It] was so brief that much of the crew likely never went ashore," observed the War Zone's Ian Ellis-Jones.
Typically, a carrier crew might expect a port call every 30 to 45 days, with each break spanning around 3 to 5 days.
Tyler Durden Thu, 10/08/2026 - 21:20
Continue reading...
[ H/T ZeroHedge ]
