Navy carrier in Mideast at sea for more than 200 days, testing crew resilience
By ALISON BATH STARS AND STRIPES •
July 9, 2026
U.S. sailors watch an aircraft flyover from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln on June 28, 2026. The ship reached its milestone 207th day at sea earlier this week, breaking a record set during the COVID-19 pandemic. (CENTCOM) NAPLES, Italy — The USS Abraham Lincoln has spent nearly seven months at sea, a grueling pace of operations that has kept the aircraft carrier and its crew on duty in the Middle East since January with no clear end in sight. On Monday, Lincoln reached its 207th consecutive day at sea, breaking a previous record set by the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The only port call Lincoln has made during its current deployment was a brief stop in Guam on Dec. 11-12, according to the Navy. The carrier departed San Diego on Nov. 21 for routine operations, the service said. Lincoln and its crew of about 5,000 personnel have spent months on station in the Arabian Sea supporting U.S. military operations aimed at compelling Iran to release its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz and abandon its nuclear ambitions.
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https://www.stripes.com/theaters/middle_east/2026-07-09/abraham-lincoln-middle-east-sailor-mental-health-22219830.htmlSource - Stars and Stripes
