Eight US Navy personnel linked to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group attempted suicide during a long deployment that included combat operations against Iran. The figure was revealed by Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao in a letter to US Senator and Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday. It affirmed that no service member in the group died by suicide during the deployment.
Eight Attempts Across Carrier Strike Group
Cao said the eight cases involved sailors from several ships and units that operate with the carrier. The number includes the USS Abraham Lincoln crew, carrier airwing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers and embarked aviation squadrons.
“Since the beginning of Lincoln’s deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the strike group,” Cao stated in the letter. “This number includes the Lincoln crew and sailors from the carrier airwing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers and all embarked aviation squadrons,” he added.
Suicide Attempt Rate Similar To Navy-Wide Figure
The rate of suicide attempts among sailors in Lincoln was roughly in line with the rate across the active-duty Navy in 2024. In 2024, the Navy recorded 356 suicide attempts among about 337,000 active-duty sailors, according to Pentagon data.
“Eight attempted suicides is incredibly high,” one US military official told CNN, noting recent carrier strike group deployments have had one or two per year. “The strain of combat ops is much higher than normal deployments. No port calls, constant alerts, etc.,” the official noted.
Sailor Went Overboard
Cao also confirmed that a sailor assigned to the airwing went overboard from the ship in early August but was “quickly recovered” and treated by the medical department. “Additionally, one sailor attempted to go overboard in March and was stopped by his shipmates. That sailor was also provided immediate medical care and subsequently returned to homeport,” he added further.
The Lincoln had left Naval Station North Island in San Diego on November 21, 2025. It later joined US naval forces in the Middle East and supported combat operations during the war with Iran. As per reports, the long deployment also sets a modern record for the carrier’s time at sea.
Meanwhile, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said the cases showed serious concerns about the conditions "What Trump and Secretary Hegseth dismissed as ‘fake news’ by service members turned out to be serious and deteriorating conditions for our service members," Gillibrand said in a statement Wednesday to CNN.
"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," she added.
Recently, the USS Abraham Lincoln had arrived at the Laem Chabang Port near Pattaya, Thailand, on September 2 after spending 286 consecutive days at sea without a full port stop. The five-day port call offered rest and recuperation for approximately 5,000 sailors and Marines on board.
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