USS Abraham Lincoln docks, ending historic deployment

About 5,000 service members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln returned to the United States on Thursday for the first time in nearly a year, ending the controversial 321-day deployment. Footage of the return showed crowds of loved ones gathered on shore with sailors lining the deck of the vessel as it docked in San Diego. The 10-month deployment included a total of 265 uninterrupted days—more than eight months—at sea.

The conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln gained attention after family members shared reports from sailors of disruptions and shortages of food, hygiene items, and mail. The aircraft carrier made headlines most recently after a letter from acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao reported that eight sailors attempted suicide during the lengthy deployment.

Sailors on board the Lincoln should never have faced such horrible conditions, and Trump owed those service members and their families an answer on how he will end this war, Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., wrote Thursday. Lawmakers celebrated the sailors’ return but called for answers from the Trump administration about the deployment’s unprecedented length and alleged living conditions.

The service members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln did all they were asked and more during an extraordinarily long and difficult deployment, but the story cannot simply end with their return home, Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., wrote Thursday. Marines and sailors sounded the alarm about the ship's poor conditions and inadequate mental health support for months, Levin said. The Trump administration ignored concerns from families and betrayed the men and women who risked everything for the country, and it could never happen again, he added.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., released a similar statement on Thursday calling on the Trump administration to end the war in Iran. The men and women on board served as the tip of the spear for Trump’s war in Iran, and faced grueling shifts, meager supplies, and even mental health crises, Schiff wrote. These service members missed nearly a year of holidays and family milestones for the sake of a chosen war, with no clear objective or measurable progress, he added.