A number of US Navy sailors have allegedly attempted to leap overboard from the USS Abraham Lincoln, as their extended mission in the Middle East persists with no clear end in sight.
Onboard are approximately 5,000 sailors and Marines who have been stationed on the aircraft carrier for nearly nine months, since the deployment commenced on November 21.
Initially slated to return home in May, their mission was prolonged indefinitely due to escalating conflicts involving Iran.
This prolonged tour of duty has left several sailors feeling exhausted and desperate, with some reportedly choosing to abandon ship as a last resort, according to reports from worried family members.
One such instance involved Annabelle Loma’s husband, who, she recounted, faced repeated overextension that ultimately led to his attempt to jump ship.
He is now left on a medical hold, and Loma said she has not heard from anyone in the Navy about his condition for weeks.
‘He’s scared,’ Loma told the Military Times. ‘He thinks he’ll get a dishonorable discharge and just because he was burnt out, his 13-year career is ruined, just like that.
‘That’s not fair. That’s not what he should be worried about.’
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is pictured in April carrying out blockade operations in the Arabian Sea
Sailors onboard the aircraft carrier have been deployed for more than eight months with no indication of when they might return
Officials recently denied claims that the ship was running low on food after bleak images emerged reportedly showing sailors’ meals
In a separate incident, a sailor on watch saw a shipmate preparing to go overboard and intervened, Maria Rodriguez, the sailor’s wife, told the outlet.
She described how her husband called out to the sailor before reaching down and grabbing the sailor’s arms, pulling him back onto deck.
The sailor had not yet gone overboard when her husband rushed to his aid, Rodriguez said, noting that three other sailors heard the commotion and came running to help.
‘He said he hadn’t felt adrenaline like that in his life and he was just so thankful he was able to get to [the sailor] in time, to stop them from going overboard,’ she noted.
Rodriguez said she does not know what happened to the sailor in the aftermath.
Sailors have also described an incident in which watch standers stopped a crew member from going overboard a few months ago amid a struggle with exhaustion and declining morale, according to Stars and Stripes.
More than 200 concerned family members met with acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao in an emotional town hall last Thursday to share their fears.
At one point during the meeting, a spouse tearfully told officials she received a message that same day from her husband saying ‘he hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow,’ Stars and Stripes reports.
More than 200 family members met with acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao (left) last Thursday to discuss their concerns about their loved ones’ mental health
A mother also described how her daughter feels like she is never going to be able to come home and believes she is going to die on the ship, according to MS Now.
Officials did not respond directly to those claims or similar statements family members made.
Instead, Vice Admiral Joseph Cahill, commander of the Naval Surface Forces, simply acknowledged the strain on sailors and their families the extended deployment causes.
‘We hear you loud and clear -regarding] the impact this has on families, on service members and the long-term ability of us to stand, sustain our force’s health,’ he said.
He then stressed that sailors had access to mental health professionals, chaplains and doctors, and noted they were also sending more mental health professionals to the ship.
Navy officials added that the USS Lincoln’s leadership is continuously assessing sailor’s psychological readiness.
‘Leadership is continuously conducting assessments to monitor and sustain the psychological readiness of every sailor,’ the Navy told Stars and Stripes.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt is reportedly being sent to the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln
At the same time, Cao told family members at the meeting that the Navy is preparing another carrier strike group – the USS Theodore Roosevelt – to deploy to the Middle East to relieve the sailors onboard the Lincoln, two people who attended the meeting told MS Now.
But he would not specify when the relief would come, citing operational security.
It comes after family of sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln expressed concerns over food levels on board after images emerged appearing to show their meagre provisions.
One parent with a child on the Lincoln received a photo from mid-April that showed a tray with boiled carrots, a few scoops of ground beef and a gray slice of dry-looking meat.
Karen Erskine-Valentine, a West Virginia pastor who spoke to a parent of a child on the Lincoln, said the food is ‘tasteless’ and that the sailors are ‘hungry all the time.’
USA Today also reported that care packages that families have been sending to troops have not been making it to the Middle East because of an indefinite suspension of mail deliveries to military ZIP codes.
Naval officials dismissed the claims that food was running low as false with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth branding it ‘fake news.’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth branded claims that sailors are running low on food ‘fake news’
The Lincoln was supposed to return in May but the deployment was extended indefinitely
In the meantime, families said they are longing for the day they can see their loved ones again, with one mother telling the Navy officials last week she had a baby while her husband was deployed.
‘My husband has gotten no time with her,’ she lamented. ‘We have friends that are on this boat as well that – they have yet to meet their children.’
Shelby Sanders also told the Military Times how she is now preparing to start her senior year of high school without knowing whether her mother will be home for some of the year’s biggest milestones.
‘Will she be back before homecoming? My birthday? Christmas?’ she said. ‘I have no idea and that’s all that I think about.’
Meanwhile, Loma is left caring for her and her husband’s three children.
‘I’m trying to keep a happy face for our three kids,’ she said. ‘They’re little, they miss their daddy, they just want to know mommy and daddy are OK. So I can’t just worry and break down, even though I want to – every single day.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to the US Navy for comment.