The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group is set to return to its homeport in San Diego on Thursday, concluding a massive 10-month deployment to the Middle East. The mission played a critical role in the war with Iran and set a new milestone of 265 days between ports of call. In total, the ship will have spent 321 days away on deployment, marking the second-longest duration since the end of the Cold War, just behind the USS Gerald R. Ford’s 326-day deployment earlier this year. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Lincoln on Wednesday ahead of its arrival home to praise the crew for their resilience and dedication. Speaking to sailors gathered on the flight deck, Hegseth acknowledged that he had extended their deployment twice due to battlefield effectiveness and operational necessity, noting that President Trump had full faith in their ability to deliver. During the deployment, the carrier strike group accomplished 10,000 sorties, 23,000 combat flight hours, nearly 4,000 combat sorties, and dropped 1.5 million pounds of ordnance on the enemy. Hegseth also addressed media reports regarding crew morale and mental health challenges on the lengthy voyage, which included eight recorded suicide attempts. He pushed back against characterizations of the ship as a symbol of dysfunction, praising the leadership and crew instead. At the end of his remarks, Hegseth announced that the strike group was being awarded the prestigious Presidential Unit Citation. He shared previously undisclosed operational statistics during the reading of the citation, highlighting 3,693 combat sorties, 1.37 million pounds of ordnance dropped on Iranian targets, 450 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched by accompanying warships, the destruction of 77 Iranian one-way attack drones and 21 anti-ship cruise missiles, and assistance in sinking 64 Iranian warships. Navy officials stated that the lessons learned from the Lincoln’s grueling deployment have already prompted quality-of-life improvements for future missions, such as the USS Theodore Roosevelt’s recent departure for the Middle East. These upgrades include maximized food and retail storage, enhanced entertainment and fitness equipment, climate control optimizations, and improved family communication protocols to better support sailors on extended tours.
Source: abcnews.com
