Lawmakers question U.S. Navy’s handling of Iran deployment strain

A group of Senate Armed Services Committee Democrats is asking Chairman Roger Wicker to hold a public hearing on extended deployments tied to U.S. military operations against Iran, according to a letter released August 24 by Senators Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).

The letter cites conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which left San Diego on November 21 and has remained at sea for more than 250 days without a scheduled return date. The carrier’s roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines went more than 200 consecutive days without a port call, according to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a modern-day record for a U.S. Navy carrier.

Military Times reported August 11 that multiple sailors aboard the Lincoln had attempted to go overboard during the deployment, based on accounts from family members. CNN separately confirmed with U.S. officials that a sailor went overboard on August 3 and was recovered within an hour by a search-and-rescue helicopter, treated aboard ship and transferred for further care. A second overboard incident involving the same strike group occurred last spring, according to a sailor aboard the Lincoln and two U.S. officials who spoke to CNN.

Family members confronted Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao at a town hall in San Diego, with one spouse describing a message from her husband saying he hoped he would not wake up the next morning, according to Military Times and Stars and Stripes reporting cited in the letter.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has disputed the Military Times account, calling it “completely misrepresented.” The Navy has said no service members aboard the Lincoln have died and that the August 3 sailor was quickly and safely recovered.

The senators’ letter also points to the USS Gerald R. Ford, which suffered a laundry-room fire on March 12 that took more than 30 hours to extinguish, injured two sailors and damaged roughly 100 sleeping berths. The Navy initially described the fire as contained and said the ship remained fully operational. Later footage obtained by CNN showed more extensive damage, including burned bunks and exposed wiring in crew living spaces.

The Ford left frontline operations and sailed to Souda Bay, Crete, for repairs, then stopped in Split, Croatia, before returning to sea on April 2. The ship had also experienced recurring failures in its roughly 650-toilet vacuum waste system throughout the deployment. The carrier ultimately spent about 11 months at sea, exceeding the Navy’s typical seven-month deployment target, before returning to Norfolk in May for scheduled maintenance.

Both carriers were redirected from other missions to support Iran operations. The Lincoln had been headed for a routine Indo-Pacific patrol before its diversion to the Middle East in January. The Ford was pulled from a planned deployment to Europe, sent briefly to the Caribbean in connection with operations against Venezuela, and then routed to the Middle East.

“The toll this unauthorized, disastrous war is taking on our troops is unconscionable,” the senators wrote, characterizing the military campaign against Iran as illegal and citing what they described as a pattern of inadequate planning for extended deployments.

The senators asked the Armed Services Committee to examine morale conditions, financial strain on military families, and the Department of War’s plan for ending the extended deployments. They also requested that the department detail how it plans to sustain troops in the region if the campaign continues.

The USS George Washington has since been ordered to relieve the Lincoln, according to a U.S. official cited by CNN. As of the senators’ letter, no public timeline had been given for the Lincoln’s return to San Diego, and Chairman Wicker had not publicly responded to the hearing request.