USS Abraham Lincoln in San Diego after long deployment
The USS Abraham Lincoln returned Thursday to San Diego and the cheers of an enthusiastic crowd after the aircraft carrier’s extended deployment in the Middle East.
Thousands of loved ones gathered around noon PDT at Naval Air Station North Island and MCAS Miramar to welcome the crew home, celebrating milestones like the crew meeting the approximately 300 babies born during the 10-month deployment. As the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier sailed into port, sailors stood on deck and wore their white uniforms and caps. Their spouses, significant others, relatives and friends cheered and waved to them from dry land.
As sailors and Marines reunited with loved ones, the atmosphere was filled with a mix of joyful emotions. Couples and families cried. Others hugged, smiled and laughed. Some did all of the above, thrilled to have their sailor or Marine back home safe and sound.
The Lincoln left San Diego in November 2025 for what was supposed to be a seven-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region. However, the crew of 5,000 sailors and Marines saw the deployment prolonged to 10 months and an increase in demands following the outbreak of conflict with Iran on Feb. 28. The Lincoln had a total deployment of 321 days, the second longest deployment since the end of the Cold War. The longest deployment was by the USS Gerald R. Ford, which returned this year after a 326-day deployment to Europe, the Caribbean and the Middle East.
The Lincoln spent 200 days in a combat zone. The aircraft carrier also spent 265 consecutive days at sea without a port call.
In a speech Wednesday aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth underscored the unprecedented scope of the strike group’s performance, noting that the crew achieved milestones unmatched by recent carrier deployments.
“What the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group did, no other carrier strike group has ever done,” Hegseth told the crew in a video address posted to social media, pointing to a grueling stretch that included 160 straight hours of operations with 60 intense strike hours at the onset of Operation Epic Fury.
After being replaced by the USS George Washington in August, the Lincoln made a port call in Thailand on its way back to the United States.
Over the summer, relatives of crew members shared concerns about sailors’ severe exhaustion, declining mental health and supply shortages.
Still, Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao said on Aug. 14 that a “small number of mental health cases were treated with no loss of life.” Cao added that meal plans were adjusted when fresh resupply was unavailable, “without a single meal being missed.” Meanwhile, he said the crew’s calls to their homes were limited when the operational threat was too high.
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