Hegseth tells USS Lincoln sailors controversial deployment ‘wasn’t easy’

Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, told service members on the USS Abraham Lincoln on Wednesday that their deployment “wasn’t easy” as the carrier prepares to dock after spending over 260 consecutive days at sea without a port call, setting a navy record.

For months, there have been widespread concerns since reports first emerged of supply shortages and deteriorating mental health onboard. In his remarks on Wednesday, however, Hegseth again sought to play down the issues.

Instead, he condemned “a few folks in the media” who he accused of trying to “turn” the Lincoln’s deployment “into some sort of symbol of dysfunction, or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission”.

“I never say this lightly, but I’m the one who signed that orders go twice to extend you,” Hegseth, who has pledged to restore the “warrior ethos” to the US military, told the service members on Wednesday. “I plead guilty.”

Hegseth announced that those onboard the vessel, which is set to arrive in San Diego later this week, would be awarded the presidential unit citation, which, according to the US military is conferred on units of the armed forces “for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy”.

The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group “did what no other carrier strike group has ever done”, he declared on Wednesday. “We asked you to do more, and you know what you did? You did more. And it wasn’t easy, and there wasn’t easy resupply.”

The US carrier, with roughly 5,000 sailors and marines onboard, left San Diego in November 2025, initially bound for the Pacific and expected to return in the spring. But after the US and Israel launched their war on Iran in late February, the Lincoln was redirected to the Middle East, to support US operations in the region.

Its deployment was extended, and the carrier spent over 250 consecutive days at sea without a port visit, setting a navy record, as the war disrupted regional resupply routes and traditional hubs. The deployment was described as “one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era” by Adm Brad Cooper, who heads US Central Command.

As Donald Trump struggled to end the war with Iran, and the Lincoln’s deployment dragged on, reports emerged over the summer of shortages of food and basic supplies, and deteriorating mental health and morale among some crew members, including that two crew members had attempted to jump overboard.

At the time, senior Trump administration officials dismissed the reports. Hegseth claimed they “completely misrepresented” the reality, while Trump, when asked in August whether the deployment had gone on too long, responded, “Not nearly long enough” – a remark that upset some naval families.

The reports about the conditions on the Lincoln caused concern among some military health experts, veterans and families of sailors onboard, and drew outrage from Democratic lawmakers, including several who demanded more information from the Pentagon.

The Lincoln was relieved from its deployment later in August, as the USS George Washington aircraft carrier arrived in the Middle East to take its place.

But in recent weeks, as the Lincoln has headed back to San Diego, a new disclosure about the carrier has renewed scrutiny. Acting navy secretary Hung Cao acknowledged last month that eight service members from the Lincoln and its strike group had attempted suicide during the deployment. He was responding to questions from Kirsten Gillibrand, the the Democratic senator.

As Hegseth delivered his remarks on the Lincoln, Gillibrand criticized him, stating that “our service members deserve better than a photo-op. They deserve real accountability for this administration’s failures”.

Other Democratic lawmakers have requested that navy leaders provide an accounting of the eight suicide attempts, and have also asked navy leaders to detail the steps they will take to “protect sailors’ mental health and wellbeing during future extended deployments”.

As the Lincoln returns home this week, another aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, was recently dispatched to the Middle East. Navy officials have said they are taking steps to prevent similar problems during future deployments, including loading up the vessel with additional supplies, and improving communication with families.