Hegseth greets USS Abraham Lincoln near the end of record long deployment
USS Abraham Lincoln Set to Return After 10-Month Middle East Mission
Tyunews.com – The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group is expected to arrive at its San Diego homeport on Thursday, bringing an unusually long 10-month deployment to a close. The mission placed the carrier group at the center of military operations in the Middle East during the war with Iran and kept the crew at sea for 321 days.
Its time between port calls reached 265 days, setting a new record for a U.S. carrier strike group. The overall deployment will rank as the second-longest carrier deployment since the Cold War ended. Only the USS Gerald R. Ford’s 326-day voyage, completed earlier in 2026 after operations in Europe, the Caribbean and the Middle East, lasted longer.
For the sailors aboard the Lincoln, the return to San Diego follows a deployment far beyond the roughly seven-month period that has become common for carrier strike groups in recent years. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the ship Wednesday, shortly before its homecoming, and addressed the crew on the flight deck.
Recognition for a prolonged mission
Hegseth told the sailors that their deployment had been extended twice. He linked those decisions to the operational demands of the conflict and to the confidence placed in the carrier group by President Donald Trump.
“I plead guilty, A., because of the incredible effectiveness that you showcased on the battlefield and the necessity. But also B., the mission required it, and C., because President Trump had full faith that you would deliver on behalf of the American people, and you did.”
The secretary described the Lincoln’s work as unprecedented for a carrier strike group, citing the scale and duration of its flight operations. He said the group had conducted 10,000 sorties, accumulated 23,000 combat flight hours, flown nearly 4,000 combat sorties and dropped 1.5 million pounds of ordnance during the mission.
“What the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group did, no other carrier strike group has ever done.”
Aircraft assigned to the carrier had already returned earlier in the week to their home stations in California and Washington state. The carrier itself, along with the sailors who operated and sustained it, continued the final leg toward San Diego.
Combat operations against Iran
At the end of his remarks, Hegseth announced that the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group would receive the Presidential Unit Citation, an honor awarded to military units for extraordinary distinction. While reading the citation, he detailed additional figures from the group’s operations against Iranian targets.
The citation listed 3,693 combat sorties and 1.37 million pounds of ordnance used against targets in Iran. Warships operating with the carrier launched 450 Tomahawk cruise missiles. The group also shot down 77 Iranian one-way attack drones and 21 anti-ship cruise missiles.
Its defensive activity included responding to four fast-attack craft and explosive-carrying dhows. The citation also credited the group with helping sink 64 Iranian warships. Together, the figures illustrate the broad range of missions carried out by a carrier strike group: launching air operations, defending ships from incoming threats and coordinating with accompanying naval forces.
Strain of a record-length period at sea
The deployment’s length also brought difficult conditions for the crew. Supply disruptions that began with the war affected food stocks aboard the carrier. Extended time away from port, limited resupply flexibility and the demands of combat operations created challenges beyond the ship’s military mission.
Concerns were raised about the mental health of sailors during the voyage. Eight suicide attempts occurred aboard the Lincoln, including an incident in which a sailor went overboard and was later rescued. A U.S. official said the number appeared to fall toward the lower end of what is experienced during carrier deployments, though the events underscored the human cost of a prolonged assignment at sea.
Hegseth rejected portrayals of the carrier as an example of poor morale or organizational failure, saying the crew’s performance and conversations with its leaders told a different story.
“There were a few folks in the media who tried to turn the USS Abraham Lincoln into some sort of a symbol. A symbol of dysfunction, or a symbol of low morale, or a symbol of a failed mission. And what I look out right here or when I talk to your leadership, and I haven't had a chance to talk to a number of you, I know it's the exact opposite.”
Lessons for future deployments
The Lincoln’s experience is already shaping preparations for other carrier groups. The USS Theodore Roosevelt left San Diego about a week earlier for the Middle East, beginning a deployment as the Navy seeks to apply lessons learned from the Lincoln’s extended period underway.
Adm. Daryl Caudle, the Chief of Naval Operations, said the Roosevelt was increasing its supply load before departure. Food, retail products and hygiene items are being maximized, while available onboard spaces are being converted into extra storage. The goal is to help the crew remain self-sufficient for a longer period if operational requirements again delay port visits or resupply opportunities.
The Abraham Lincoln’s return closes a deployment defined by both operational intensity and endurance. Its sailors will arrive home with a Presidential Unit Citation, a record for time spent between ports and a place among the longest U.S. carrier deployments of the post-Cold War era.
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