After over 10 months away from San Diego, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is on the final leg of a deployment that took it from the Pacific into combat operations against Iran and back again. Lincoln and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. arrived at Naval Base Guam on September 19 for what the Navy called a “brief logistics stop.” Carrier Air Wing 9 and Destroyer Squadron 21 staff personnel were also embarked. The Navy said Guam marked Carrier Strike Group 3 personnel’s “first return to American soil in nine months.”
It did not last long. Lincoln departed Guam the next day after taking stores, mail, and equipment aboard.
Carrier Strike Group 3 spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Tyler Barker told Stars and Stripes that, because of the “brief nature of the logistics stop,” sailors received on-base liberty and could attend a Brett Young concert. “The crew and ship remain focused and ready,” Barker added.
300+ Day Deployment for USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier
Lincoln left San Diego on November 21, 2025. By September 22, 305 days had elapsed since the deployment began.
USNI News reported that the carrier’s 302-day mark on September 19 made the deployment the second-longest by a U.S. carrier since the end of the Cold War, behind USS Gerald R. Ford’s 326-day deployment, which ended in May.
The carrier’s latest Guam stop came only weeks after another rare break. Lincoln visited Laem Chabang, Thailand, from September 2 to September 6, its first regular port call in nearly nine months.
Rear Adm. Robert E. Loughran, commander of Carrier Strike Group 3, called Thailand a “well-deserved opportunity” for sailors and Marines to “rest and recharge.” He described what the group had accomplished as “truly historic.”
Capt. Dan Keeler, Lincoln’s commanding officer, similarly called Pattaya a “tremendous opportunity for this crew to recharge.”
The Thailand visit followed an extraordinary stretch at sea.
Aviation Museum of Kentucky USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Photo. 19FortyFive.com Image.
ATLANTIC OCEAN (Aug. 30, 2018) An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7 flies by the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) during dual-carrier sustainment operations with the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). In addition to demonstrating the Navy’s inherent flexibility and scalability, this evolution provides the opportunity to conduct complex, multi-unit training to enhance maritime interoperability and combat readiness; prepare the Navy to protect our homeland; and preserve and promote peace anywhere around the world. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Juan Sotolongo/Released)
Stars and Stripes reported that the deployment included 208 consecutive days at sea and 200 days in a combat zone.
The carrier also made a brief logistics stop in Oman in July.
From Indo-Pacific to Iran
Lincoln originally deployed toward the Indo-Pacific but shifted to the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalated.
By late January, the strike group was in the Arabian Sea, and after Operation Epic Fury began on February 28, it conducted combat missions against Iran.
A March 26 U.S. Naval Forces Central Command statement said the strike group “continues to conduct strike missions” in support of the operation.
The carrier spent nearly seven months in the U.S. Central Command area before heading east. USS George Washington arrived in the region on August 19 to relieve it.
Long deployments are increasingly becoming part of carrier planning.
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Perryman said sailors deploying aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt had been told: “They know they’re going to be there longer than seven months.”
Sailors ‘Tried Jumping Overboard’
Lincoln’s long tour has also drawn scrutiny over conditions aboard ship.
Families of Lincoln sailors told Military Times in August that at least two sailors had attempted to jump overboard.
The outlet also reported complaints about food, water, mail, and access to psychiatric care.
One deployed service member put it: “Just like machines, people can break, too. They need rest.”
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle responded that “Sailors first is not a slogan – it’s a warfighting imperative.”
CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper visited the carrier in August and described the crew’s “camaraderie, teamwork and resilience” as “awe-inspiring.” He said Lincoln had among the lowest numbers of mental-health cases across the Navy’s 11 active carriers, while acknowledging that extended service at sea is “uniquely challenging and tough.”
Crew ‘Firing on All Cylinders’
Cooper later wrote that “the crew is tired,” but said sailors continued to “fire on all cylinders.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth separately said reports of deteriorating conditions had “completely misrepresented” the situation.
Meanwhile, members of California’s congressional delegation requested an independent Pentagon inspector general review, saying they were “seriously concerned about the reported conditions” and the well-being of personnel aboard the strike group.
The carrier’s crew is not home yet.
USNI News reported that Lincoln is expected to reach the West Coast in early October.
For a deployment already longer than Lincoln’s own 295-day 2019-2020 cruise, Guam was another marker that the end was finally edging closer.
About the Author: Georgia Gilholy
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
