Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) is seeking answers from the Navy about reports of dire conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been deployed for more than 260 days.
Asked by CBS News whether there should be a congressional investigation into the aircraft carrier’s nearly nine-month deployment, Bacon said there should be oversight on the matter.
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“We should bring in the secretary of the Navy and/or … the service chief of the Navy and have them explain to us the truth on that,” the congressman said on Sunday’s edition of Face the Nation.
Family members of sailors aboard the Lincoln have expressed concerns about mental health and supply issues. Last week, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao and other senior military officials held town halls for the families to raise their concerns.
However, President Donald Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth have dismissed the reports and insisted the conditions are not as bad as they are believed to be.
Trump, for example, said the families are not actually worried and that the deployment was “not nearly long enough.” The ship has been active in the Middle East since before the U.S. war with Iran started in late February. It has not returned to port for more than 200 days.
Bacon, who is not running for reelection, responded to the president’s comments, suggesting Trump should have been more understanding of the families’ concerns about the sailors’ morale and mental well-being.
“It’s better to acknowledge, ‘Hey, this is hard on the families. It’s hard on the service members,'” he said. “Thank them for being willing to defend our country and doing these 10-month deployments if you’re on an aircraft carrier. I think that would have been a … better way of addressing this issue.”
Bacon served nearly 30 years in the Air Force and completed four deployments, including service in Iraq. When he served aboard an aircraft carrier in 1996, Bacon saw the deadly effects of prolonged deployments on crew members.
NAVY DISPATCHES NEW AIRCRAFT CARRIER TO MIDDLE EAST TO RELIEVE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN
“We had a couple members jump overboard and commit suicide while I was on that deployment,” the House Republican said. “So these incidents, they’re terrible, they’re sad, but it has happened previously and, unfortunately, likely in the future as well.”
The USS George Washington is departing the Pacific Ocean for the Middle East to relieve the Lincoln of its duty. The USS George Washington has been at sea since May.
