USS Lincoln heads home after extended deployment to the Middle East

The USS Abraham Lincoln is on its way back home following an extended nine-month deployment, a U.S. official told NBC News on Thursday.

The U.S. official said the ship has been sailing for a few days and is expected to arrive back in San Diego in a few weeks.

With the Lincoln’s departure from the Middle East, where it was supporting the U.S. war against Iran, the USS George Washington arrived in the region Wednesday to begin a deployment, according to U.S. Central Command.

CENTCOM’s commander, Adm. Brad Cooper, said in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday that he visited the crew of the Lincoln on Saturday to announce their return home.

“I delivered the words every deployed sailor and Marine longs to hear: ‘You have delivered a performance for the ages, and now you are going home,’” Cooper wrote.

The Lincoln, which has been at sea for more than 250 days, has 5,000 sailors and Marines on board. The deployment has been marred by reports of deteriorating conditions. Cooper downplayed concerns in the op-ed.

Family members of those onboard have told NBC News that conditions have been grim, citing a lack of supplies and food and a rising concern for worsening mental health. There have been some “man overboard” incidents on the Lincoln, including one where a sailor was rescued, according to U.S. officials. While the incidents have raised concerns within the Navy, they have not been viewed as reflective of a broad mental health crisis aboard the carrier, according to a U.S. official.

A mother of a sailor aboard the USS Lincoln told NBC News that her son was expecting to be deployed for six months. When she finally heard from him, about a month after the Feb. 28 strikes, she said he mentioned he was hungry and losing weight. He told his mother the Lincoln’s onboard commissary was limiting service members’ purchases.

“He was just eating what he could eat,” she said, adding that he said the hot water was sometimes out for days and they went between three and four months without getting mail after the aircraft carrier was redirected from the South China Sea.

The mother, a former service member herself, said her son told her that there were people “who weren’t doing too well.”

“One person had just given up, they weren’t reporting for duty. They were wanting to get sent home,” she said. “I could tell his voice was sounding like he was down.”

She admitted that the conditions in the region and safety could have been the reason for the historic consecutive days at sea. According to her son, things got briefly better in April after parents started complaining about the ship’s conditions.

The mother said she is very proud of everyone who has served on the Lincoln and hopes they are able to get the resources they need.

“Everyone needs to be treated with decency regardless of the job,” she said.

Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, said that concerns about issues had been addressed.

In a social media post on Sunday, Cooper wrote that of the U.S. Navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers, the Lincoln “currently has among the lowest number of cases related to mental health.”

Cooper’s account follows comments from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week that reports about the situation aboard the Lincoln have been “completely misrepresented.” President Donald Trump last week also dismissed concerns, telling reporters Friday that the deployment was “not nearly long enough.”

The Lincoln left San Diego on Nov. 21 and its deployment was planned to end in May. It was extended as the U.S. remained embroiled in the war against Iran, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on the country at the end of February. While the ship has been deployed for nine months, a typical deployment for a carrier is roughly six to seven months.

Carriers also usually make regular stops at ports to refresh and replenish food supplies during those deployments. The Lincoln hasn’t visited a port since December, according to a U.S. official, marking over 200 days consecutively at sea.

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