The US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has finally returned to port in San Diego after spending over ten months at sea - most of that time being engaged in war with Iran as part of Trump's Operation Epic Fury.
It made a badly needed port call in Thailand last month before traversing the Pacific Ocean to get back to its home port. The carrier spent a record 265 consecutive days at sea, and over 300 days in total on the deployment.
The plight of the Lincoln carrier and its crew of some 5,000 sailors and Marines grabbed international headlines for months, given reports of substandard living conditions, food and supply shortages, and mental health crises which led to attempted suicides among servicemembers.
The Navy later acknowledged some of the problems, such as resupply and logistics challenges, amid an avalanche of stories that included dangerous hygiene challenges and derelict facilities.
In late September, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao informed Congress that eight sailors in the USS Lincoln's carrier strike group attempted suicide during the lengthy and strained deployment.
US War Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the carrier on Wednesday when it docked, and in a ceremony awarded crew with the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest military award which can be bestowed on a unit.
Emotional reunions with families after grueling deployment:
It’s an emotional day in Coronado, California, as hundreds of families prepare to reunite with loved ones who were aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which has been at sea for more than 300 days. Nearly 5,000 service members were aboard the Lincoln, which has been supporting the U.S. war against Iran. Its deployment included a record-setting stretch of uninterrupted time at sea. "Thank God they're home. Thank God it's over and nothing by happiness from all these people," one mother told @CarterEvans.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 8, 2026
He has resisted the constant criticism related to the Lincoln, which some reports and Congressman held up as "a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission." Hegseth said in his remarks aboard the ship:
“There were a few folks in the media who tried to turn the USS Abraham Lincoln into some sort of a symbol, a symbol of dysfunction, or a symbol of low morale, or a symbol of a failed mission,” Hegseth said.
“When I talk to your leadership,” he added, “I know it’s the exact opposite.”
The Lincoln departed its San Diego home base on Nov. 21, 2025, on what was supposed to be a seven-month deployment.
Sailors meeting their recently born children for first time:
A sailor’s wife arrived to welcome home her husband from the USS Abraham Lincoln’s historic deployment, with their 10-week-old son in her arms. Mackenzie said they'd planned the pregnancy around her husband's return, and "he's finally going to get to meet his son" after the carrier's extended tour in the Middle East.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 8, 2026
After departing, the carrier made a mere one-day stop in Guam two weeks before Christmas. "[It] was so brief that much of the crew likely never went ashore," observed the War Zone's Ian Ellis-Jones.
Typically, a carrier crew might expect a port call every 30 to 45 days, with each break spanning around 3 to 5 days.