USS Abraham Lincoln group had 8 suicide attempts, Navy says

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Pacific on Wednesday and praised its crew as the carrier returned from an Iran war deployment that the Navy has said included eight suicide attempts by service members in its strike group.

The nuclear-powered carrier left California in November 2025 for duty in the South China Sea, then was sent to the Middle East before US-Israeli attacks on Iran began in late February. It stayed at sea until a port call in Thailand in early September.

Hegseth told service members that the carrier strike group had flown 10,000 sorties, including almost 4,000 combat sorties, and logged 23,000 combat flight hours. He also announced a presidential unit citation for the strike group for what he called “extraordinary heroism against enemy forces”.

The deployment drew concern from military families and lawmakers in August over reported suicide attempts and food shortages. President Donald Trump dismissed those claims at the time, and Hegseth said the situation had been misrepresented.

In a letter last month, Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said eight service members who were part of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group had attempted suicide. Cao said one sailor assigned to an air wing went overboard in early August and was quickly recovered, while another sailor tried to go overboard in March and was stopped by shipmates.

Cao said food supplies on the carrier were adequate, but that limited resupply during combat reduced the number of main entree options from two to one for a short time.

Hegseth criticised media coverage of the carrier on Wednesday, saying it had been portrayed as a symbol of dysfunction, low morale or a failed mission. “It's the exact opposite,” he said.