USS Abraham Lincoln: Nine Months at Sea Push a Carrier Crew to the Breaking Point
The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has become the center of a growing military and political controversy after reports of suicide attempts, severe exhaustion and deteriorating living conditions among its roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines. After months of continuous operations linked to the war with Iran, the deployment is raising a harder strategic question for Washington: how long can a carrier remain combat-effective when the crew itself is nearing its limits?