From the HERE City National Desk
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is scheduled to return to its homeport of San Diego on Thursday, ending a deployment of 321 days that took the ship to the Middle East for the war with Iran.
It is the second-longest carrier deployment since the end of the Cold War, behind the 326 days the USS Gerald R. Ford logged earlier this year. Typical carrier deployments in recent years have lasted about seven months.
The Lincoln, which carries about 7,500 personnel, left San Diego in November and was expected back before summer. Its deployment was extended after the Iran war began in February. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the ship Wednesday and told sailors on the flight deck that he signed the orders extending their deployment twice.
Hegseth credited the strike group with 10,000 sorties and 23,000 combat flight hours. The aircraft assigned to the carrier returned to their home bases in California and Washington state earlier in the week.
The deployment drew criticism after reports of dwindling food supplies and low morale. A top Navy official told Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in a letter last month that at least eight service members attempted suicide during the months at sea. No deaths aboard the ship have been attributed to suicide.
