The recent episode of a sailor’s going overboard from the USS Lincoln was both frightening and maddening.
At this writing, it doesn’t seem clear whether he intentionally jumped or not. But some reports have indicated that multiple sailors have either jumped or threatened to do so.
It’s frightening because, although the sailor was rescued by helicopter only about an hour after he entered the water, this was the ocean! Even a strong swimmer could have a cramp or otherwise find himself in trouble.
The Lincoln had been at sea for more than 250 days when that incident happened. That’s unusual, since deployment times for aircraft carriers during peacetime are “typically about six to seven months long” (Yoko Kubota, “3 Reasons Extended Carrier Deployments Take Such a Heavy Toll at Sea,” The Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2026).
A deployment of 250 days is more than eight months, “200 days of that [recent] deployment in a combat zone.”
On an aircraft carrier, thousands of people live aboard for months at a time, so food for all those meals must be carried, along with other provisions potentially needed by so many humans.
Long deployments take a toll in several ways. There’s stress on the ship itself, for instance. Equipment can break down and, without port calls, the ship can’t get to a maintenance facility.
Resupply (of fuel, spare parts, ammunition, food, and other crewmember needs) also becomes a problem. Carriers can be replenished by air, but airplanes are limited on the amount of supplies any one can carry in a given trip.
Then there’s the toll a long deployment takes on the crew’s mental health and morale. The crew of the Lincoln reportedly has dealt with such problems as food shortages, broken toilets, and moldy showers.
Worst of all may be the uncertainty of having a deployment extended without knowing when it will end.
I heard retired General Mark Hertling interviewed on a recent “Deadline White House” program on MSNOW, and he characterized deployment aboard an aircraft carrier as being among the most difficult kinds of military service.
The incident with the sailor’s going overboard is not only frightening but maddening. Donald Trump apparently doesn’t care what brave sailors go through to carry out his orders in a Middle East made much more dangerous by his reckless and foolish war against Iran.
When asked by a reporter whether the Lincoln’s deployment had been too long, he replied “not nearly long enough.”
So much for the Commander- in-Chief’s concern about anyone except himself.
If polls about the coming elections in the U.S. House and Senate are any indication, he’s about to find out how little the American electorate thinks of him.
And how eager most of us are to see the last of him.