After spending a record 265 consecutive days at sea supporting operations in the Iran War, sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln finally stepped ashore in San Diego on Thursday.
At the naval base, emotional reunions unfolded as crew members embraced spouses, children and other relatives. Their homecoming followed a difficult deployment marked by reports of dwindling supplies, worsening mental health and suicide attempts among some sailors.
Relatives who gathered along San Diego Bay said they had spent sleepless nights and shed tears after learning about the aircraft carrier’s food shortages and harsh living conditions. Some sailors even sent their families detailed wish lists of the meals and snacks they missed most.
The Navy said 64 fathers were among the first sailors to leave the carrier, many of them meeting their babies for the very first time.
Kathy Monterrosa waited in Coronado with her 6-month-old daughter, Sarahi, dressed in a miniature blue-and-white sailor outfit as she looked forward to her husband’s return.
“She’s our deployment baby,” said Monterrosa, who lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Monterrosa said it was especially difficult to hear about the conditions aboard the ship while she was pregnant.
“I was crying a lot and worried. I wasn’t sure if he was OK or not,” she said.
Sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln completed a record 265-day deployment at sea supporting efforts in the Iran War before disembarking in San Diego on Thursday.
Crew members were reunited with loved ones after a grueling deployment that drew public attention because of reports involving food shortages, declining mental health and suicide attempts.
When Monterrosa finally spoke with her husband, he told her the situation aboard the carrier had been “pretty bad.”
Sailor Steven Rivas smiled broadly while holding his 7-month-old daughter in his arms.
“I couldn’t grasp the reality of it,” Rivas said, describing the moment he returned home. As the ship entered the bay, he said, emotion took over while he saw the crowd and realized his family was waiting for him.
Brent Ledbetter was preparing to meet his infant son, Nathan, for the first time. “I just want to hold him, play with him,” the sailor told NBC News.
“He’s crawling around now, so I’m excited to chase him around the house and give him all the love that has been kind of withheld for the last 10 months. I’m so excited.”
During the deployment, Ledbetter watched his son’s early milestones through videos sent by his family.
“I’ve kind of got to see him grow up through the phone and internet,” he said. “Technology’s come such a long way, and it’s incredible.”
His wife, Jessica Ledbetter, shared the relief of having him home. “My husband, my best friend is back,” she said. “We’re just so excited to see him back.”
Families waiting for the aircraft carrier’s return to San Diego Bay said anxiety over the reported food shortages and difficult conditions had led to sleepless nights and tears. Several said sailors had sent them lists of foods they were longing to eat.
Family members and friends gather at Naval Air Station North Island to welcome the USS Abraham Lincoln home from deployment.
The US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln returns home
One Marine was welcomed home by the entire family, including Simba, his golden retriever.
Others traveled as far as Nebraska, like the family of Lance Corporal Easton Tharpe, CBS8 reported.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew out to the Lincoln on Wednesday to give the crew the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor a unit can receive.
Hegseth pushed back against what he said were efforts to turn the ‘Lincoln into some sort of a symbol, a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission.’
The secretary told the crew that ‘what makes the US military and the US Navy and all these sailors different is that you adapt and that you´re resilient and you overcome – you finish the mission nonetheless.’
Dozens of sailors stood atop the Lincoln as it glided past the cityscape of downtown San Diego toward cheering families who were carrying flowers and balloons and ringing cowbells.
Abel Ramirez, 20, walked off the carrier with a big grin, overjoyed that his first deployment was over.
‘It feels amazing,’ he said while headed out to search for his parents who drove from Texas. ‘There was a certain point when I never thought I would come off.’
Sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln Nimitz-class aircraft carrier wave to friends and family members
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Zoe Bonter and her children, Luka, 18-months old, and Mila, five years old, wait for the ship’s arrival
Kathy Monterroso, center, holding her daughter Sarahi Monterroso, waits to greet her husband, sailor Chris Monterroso
Cassity Garduque, 14, waved as her mom in her sailor uniform frantically waved back from the top deck.
‘It feels really overwhelming,’ she said about being reunited, adding she’s glad her mom won’t need to eat ramen almost every day.
Captain Daniel Keeler, the ship´s commander, said most of the crew was on their first deployment and that the issues they faced were normal for such a long deployment, adding everyone had access to four meals a day.
Alma Solano Velez said her husband gave his family an extensive list of the foods he has been craving over the past 10 months: oxtail, barbecue chicken, broccoli and shrimp empanadas to name a few.
He had told his wife about ‘the lack of food and showers’ on board and was looking forward to seeing their daughter, who turned four years old while he was away, she said.
The Navy initially downplayed any problems during the deployment, and President Donald Trump commented in August that the Lincoln´s lengthy deployment was ‘not nearly long enough.’
The carrier left San Diego in November and arrived in the Middle East in January. U.S. and Israeli forces launched airstrikes against Iran on February 28.
Navy leaders eventually acknowledged there were some issues aboard.
Captain Dan Keeler, USS Abraham Lincoln’s commanding officer greets his family members
Sailor Ryan Resurreccion hugs his son Ari
In August, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said the Lincoln maintained adequate food supplies, but because combat operations limited resupply opportunities, meal options were reduced for a short time.
After more than 10 months at sea, the Lincoln´s crew got a stop in Thailand early last month on the way back from the Middle East.
Extended naval deployments can wear on service members who are away from home for long periods and increase strain on the ship and its equipment.
The Navy told lawmakers that eight sailors attempted suicide during the record-setting deployment, though experts say that number is low in a strike group of 6,000 sailors over ten months.
According to the citation that Hegseth read to the crew, the Lincoln and its strike group executed nearly 3,700 combat missions, launched 450 Tomahawk cruise missiles, shot down 77 one-way attack drones, sank 64 Iranian warships, and destroyed 21 anti-ship cruise missiles.
The Lincoln, which set a record for days between ports of call, is the second carrier to endure an unusually long deployment during the Iran war and to receive the Presidential Unit Citation afterward, typically reserved for significant achievement in combat.
The crew of the USS Gerald R. Ford returned in May from a 326-day deployment – the longest for an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years and a record in the post-Vietnam War era. The deployment didn´t include as many uninterrupted days at sea as the Lincoln.
Another carrier, the usually Asia-based USS George Washington, relieved the Lincoln in the Middle East in August.
Keeler, the ship´s commander, said most of the crew was on their first deployment and that the issues they faced were normal for such a long deployment, adding everyone had access to four meals a day
Spectators gather to view the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier as it returns to the San Diego Bay
The Lincoln strike group carried roughly 6,000 personnel and spent months supporting combat operations connected to the Iran war.
Cao confirmed last month that eight suicide attempts had been recorded across the carrier, its air wing and accompanying ships during the deployment.
Another sailor attempted to go overboard in March but was stopped by shipmates and later medically evacuated, Cao said.
Families had raised concerns about food and supply shortages, fatigue and deteriorating morale as the deployment stretched on.
The carrier also went for a record-setting stretch without a port call.
Sailors and their relatives described 12-hour shifts, broken plumbing, moldy showers and periods when food portions were reduced as resupply became more difficult.
Despite those concerns, experts cautioned that the eight attempts alone cannot establish that the strike group’s suicide-attempt rate was unusually high.
The Navy recorded 356 attempts across approximately 337,000 active-duty sailors in 2024, and a former VA mental-health official said more information would be needed to judge what the Lincoln figures signify.