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The {{USS|George Washington|CVN-73|6}} arrives in the Middle East to relieve the {{USS|Abraham Lincoln|CVN-72|6}} amidst a nine-month deployment and reports of mental health challe
Confirmed
Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Asia-based USS George Washington aircraft carrier is now operating in the Middle East, the U.S. military said Thursday, relieving a long-deployed carrier following reports of mental health challenges and supply shortages aboard while it was supporting the Iran war.
Reports from families of crew members published in the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes military newspapers described food and water shortages, disrupted mail services, plumbing problems, low morale and worsening mental health, prompting Democratic lawmakers to demand answers from the Pentagon.
Asked about Donald Trump’s comments last Friday that the Lincoln’s deployment was “ not nearly long enough ”, Schuster said that the US president may be correct strategically that the US needs a carrier in the region for longer, but that the statement “ignores the human element”, which he said was “everything”.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said on social media that the carrier arrived in the region Wednesday. A navy official, in a statement last week, also recognized that the war had disrupted traditional supply hubs, but said that “current reports from the ship confirm continuous access to clean water, functional [air conditioning] and healthy meal options”.
Several Democratic lawmakers have pressed the Department of Defense for accountability over conditions aboard the Lincoln, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said were “completely misrepresented. US Central Command announced on Thursday that the Washington arrived in the area on Wednesday, and posted an image of sailors working on the flight deck as the ship transited the Arabian Sea.
He said that typically about 70% of the crew on a ship like the Lincoln are age 26 or younger, living and working together in a confined space. “History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era,” Cooper said.
Trump said the admiral assured him that the Lincoln is “beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of. No date has yet been announced for the Lincoln to return to the US.
The Lincoln’s crew, he said, had “shown really strong resilience”. Carl Otis Schuster, a retired US navy captain, said he thought more attention should be paid to the “human element” of these deployments, adding that “until we do that, you’re going to have repeats” of the kinds of problems that have emerged.
What's confirmed
- Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Asia-based USS George Washington aircraft carrier is now operating in the Middle East, the U.S.
- Reports from families of crew members published in the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes military newspapers described food and water shortages, disrupted mail services, plumbing problems, low morale and worsening mental
- Asked about Donald Trump’s comments last Friday that the Lincoln’s deployment was “ not nearly long enough ”, Schuster said that the US president may be correct strategically that the US needs a carrier in the region for
- Several Democratic lawmakers have pressed the Department of Defense for accountability over conditions aboard the Lincoln, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said were “completely misrepresented.
- He said that typically about 70% of the crew on a ship like the Lincoln are age 26 or younger, living and working together in a confined space.
- Trump said the admiral assured him that the Lincoln is “beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of.
What's still developing
- Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Asia-based USS George Washington aircraft carrier is now operating in the Middle East, the U.S. military said Thursday, relieving a long-deployed…
- U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said on social media that the carrier arrived in the region Wednesday.
- Several Democratic lawmakers have pressed the Department of Defense for accountability over conditions aboard the Lincoln, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said were “completely misrepresented.
- Trump said the admiral assured him that the Lincoln is “beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of.
- “History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era,” Cooper said.
- US Central Command announced on Thursday that the Washington arrived in the area on Wednesday, and posted an image of sailors working on the flight deck as the ship transited the Arabian Sea.
- No date has yet been announced for the Lincoln to return to the US.
- Reports from families of crew members published in the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes military newspapers described food and water shortages, disrupted mail services, plumbing problems, low morale and worsening…