{"id":432094,"date":"2026-08-13T21:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T21:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/432094\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T21:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T21:20:09","slug":"report-relief-on-the-way-for-san-diego-carrier-on-extended-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/432094\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Relief on the way for San Diego carrier on extended deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln can look forward to returning to San Diego soon, multiple news outlets reported Thursday.<\/p>\n

The aircraft carrier USS George Washington will relieve the Lincoln amid ongoing operations against Iran, Reuters reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Washington is based in Yokosuka, Japan. Defense Department photos show the ship was operating in the South China Sea Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press reported Thursday<\/a> the ship was transiting the Straight of Malacca heading toward the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n

Sailors on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln are reporting poor conditions and low morale on board to their families in San Diego, according to recent reports.<\/p>\n

Families expressed their concerns to Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao during a town hall at Naval Air Station North Island Aug. 6, according to an MS Now report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lincoln family members told the secretary they were concerned about the health and safety of the crew, the report said.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/p>\n

U.S. Sailors tow an EA-18G Growler on the flight deck of aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln,\u00a0July 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

According to the Navy Times, at least two sailors<\/a> have tried to jump overboard. <\/p>\n

CNN reported Thursday that a sailor did go overboard last month<\/a> but did not say whether they did so intentionally.<\/p>\n

A Navy official told KPBS the service hasn’t seen an increase in suicide ideation or attempts among the crew of the Lincoln.<\/p>\n

The official also said there are religious, medical and mental health services available to sailors on board.<\/p>\n

Attorney Don King spent 24 years in the Navy as a judge advocate general and a military judge \u2014 time that included aircraft carrier deployments.<\/p>\n

King says under the best conditions, these deployments are difficult.<\/p>\n

Operating in the Middle East is especially arduous due to the heat, and a lot of sailors work on the flight deck exposed to the elements. <\/p>\n

“Everybody on the ship is working long hours,” King said. “It’s incredibly taxing not only physically but mentally as well.”<\/p>\n

The Lincoln left San Diego for its deployment in November. It arrived in the Middle East in January and has been involved in combat operations against Iran.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln transits the Arabian Sea, June 27, 2026.<\/p>\n

The length of the deployment isn’t the only factor impacting crew morale \u2014 the ship has reportedly <\/a>only made two brief stops in port along the way.<\/p>\n

The Navy official acknowledged the Lincoln has struggled to provide fresh fruit and vegetables to the crew and to keep some personal items in stock in the ship’s store.<\/p>\n

The crew currently has access to clean water, healthy food and air conditioning, the official said.<\/p>\n

King said the Navy should understand the limits on how far it can push a ship’s crew under the conditions the Lincoln’s experiencing.<\/p>\n

“I think that the tolerance for hardship has diminished a little bit \u2014 not just within the Navy, not just within the military \u2014 but within our society,” King said. “I’m not saying that … is a bad thing \u2014 I’m just saying it exists, I think.”<\/p>\n

The Navy told KPBS it could not comment on future operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln can look forward to returning to San Diego soon, multiple news outlets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-432094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}