Eight US sailors in USS Abraham Lincoln strike group attempted suicide, Navy says
In a letter to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said the crew had adequate mental health support during the long deployment.
Eight US sailors in USS Abraham Lincoln strike group attempted suicide, Navy says
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said that eight crew members assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group attempted suicide during the ship’s long deployment.
The disclosure came in a letter sent Tuesday to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, in response to the Democrat’s questions about sailors’ well-being amid growing concern.
Family members of sailors had sounded the alarm over worsening mental health and harsh conditions. The carrier, which has been deployed since last November, is now on its way back to the US.
In his letter, Cao said five chaplains and several mental health professionals were available aboard to address 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".
Although the US Navy has previously acknowledged supply problems on the carrier, it denied that a mental health crisis was unfolding on the Lincoln, which had about 5,000 crew members aboard.
Cao’s letter also rejected broad concerns about broken plumbing and shortages of fresh food, but it did acknowledge temporary "localized piping failures" and issues with the reverse osmosis desalination units, and said "main entree options" at meals were cut from two to one for a "short time".
In August, the USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier, was dispatched to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln after its nine-month deployment.