Eight suicide attempts occurred across the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group during its extended deployment, Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao revealed in a September letter to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, drawing sharp political criticism over service member conditions and the length of combat operations.
The disclosure brings to light the severe psychological strain experienced by personnel serving aboard warships operating in the Middle East. While the U.S. Navy previously maintained that no mental health crisis affected the aircraft carrier itself, the new figures encompass a much broader operational footprint.
Disclosures in the Letter to Senator Gillibrand
The confirmation came to light through correspondence sent on Tuesday, September 22, from Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The letter from acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was obtained by Newsweek Wednesday in response to one from her August 15, at the height of the concerns around the vessel’s deployment in the Middle East. The inquiry stemmed from mounting concerns raised by family members regarding deteriorating conditions and declining mental health among the crew during a deployment stretching well beyond typical durations.
Cao specified that the eight recorded attempts involved not just the main carrier’s personnel, but included the Lincoln crew and Sailors from the carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers, and all embarked aviation squadrons
according to the reporting. The BBC has contacted the US Navy for comment, and Newsweek reached out to the Pentagon, U.S. Navy and White House for comment Wednesday afternoon. While the numbers surpass initial tallies reported earlier in the summer—marking a number higher than the two reported incidents earlier in the summer—the acting secretary confirmed that no service members died by suicide during the deployment.
Deployment Pressures and Combat Operations
The carrier, which has been deployed since last November, is now returning to the US. As criticism and concern grew around the Lincoln’s lengthy deployment—stretching over 260 days—Trump dismissed reports of declining mental health and deteriorating conditions aboard the aircraft carrier, telling reporters the deployment had not gone on long enough. Responding to the letter, which was a response to questions from the senator who sits on the Senate’s Armed Services Committee, Gillibrand sharply criticized Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. In August, the USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier, was sent to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln following its nine-month deployment.
Military officials noted that recent carrier strike group deployments had typically recorded one or two suicide attempts a year, while describing the pressures of combat operations, constant alerts and the absence of port visits as unusually demanding. CNN cited the latest available Pentagon figures for additional context, noting that in 2024, the Navy recorded 356 suicide attempts among approximately 337,000 active-duty sailors, with CNN reporting that the number of attempts in the Lincoln strike group was roughly consistent with the Navy-wide rate. Alongside these psychological pressures, sailors and their families reported substantial logistical challenges.
Contrasting Accounts of Conditions Aboard the Lincoln
While the US Navy has previously acknowledged supply challenges on the carrier, it denied that a mental health crisis was taking place on the Lincoln, which had some 5,000 crew aboard. Cao’s letter also denied widespread concerns about broken plumbing and shortages of fresh food, but acknowledged temporary localized piping failures
and problems with the reverse osmosis desalination units, and that main entree options
at meals were reduced to one from two for a “short time”.
Available Mental Health Resources and Political Fallout
In his letter, Cao said that there were five chaplains and multiple mental health professionals available on board to meet the spiritual and emotional needs of the crew
. He said the eight included the Lincoln crew and sailors from the carrier airwing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers and all embarked aviation squadrons
.
Despite these provisions, the disclosure provoked sharp political condemnation.
What Trump and Secretary Hegseth dismissed as ‘fake news’ turned out to be serious and deteriorating conditions for our service members,
Gillibrand said in a statement to Newsweek. “Our troops and their families make immense sacrifices every single day, yet the president dismissed them with open disrespect. That this administration can find endless taxpayer dollars for bombs, ballrooms, and billionaires, but cannot take care of our service members, is completely unacceptable.”
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Democratic Senator
If you or anyone you know has been affected by the issues raised in this article, details of organisations offering information are available at BBC Action Line or you can call the US Suicide and Crisis Lifeline on 988.
