Navy announces USS Abraham Lincoln will return home 'soon' from months-long mission

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao announced Friday that the USS Abraham Lincoln will soon return home from its months-long deployment amid public and family concern about mental health conditions on board the ship. 

Sailors aboard the carrier have reportedly attempted to jump overboard amid dire conditions during their extended deployment to the Middle East, according to their families. One sailor did allegedly jump last week but was rescued an hour later.

Cao did not give a clear timeline for when the ship will return to the United States but said it was part of a planned rotation.

"Let me be clear: the safety and security of our Sailors and Marines always comes first," Cao said in a statement. "The Lincoln was extended because the mission demanded it. Deployments are hard. Combat operations make them harder.

"War is hell and normal routines are disrupted," he continued. "One of the hardest aspects about warfighting beyond knowingly placing our service members in harm’s way is that even with the best planning and communication, change and uncertainty will always be in play. Our success depends on how we adapt."

The aircraft carrier, carrying around 5,000 sailors and Marines, was deployed in the Pacific and South China Sea last November but has been supporting U.S. military operations more recently in the Middle East. The crew's deployment was extended to May with no end date announced.

Cao noted that the sailors and Marines have been deployed for 266 days, 200 of which were in a combat zone. He also acknowledged that there have been mental health cases, but said no service member died as a result of it, and that calls home were limited when the operational threat was too high.

The acting secretary also blasted the news media for attempting to portray the ship's crew as "victims," stating instead that they are the "epitome of American strength and resilience."

"There is no question our young men and women have been pushed to their limits—but they have never broken," he said. "They are rightly tired—but have never been out of the fight."

Cao did not say where the sailors and crew would be stationed next, but previous reporting stated that the Lincoln and its sailors will be assigned to a home port at Bremerton, Washington.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.