Courtney, Bell, Goodlander Lead Colleagues in Urging Clarity from Pentagon on USS Lincoln’s Overextended Deployment & Sailors’ Safety

NORWICH, CT - Today, Reps. Joe Courtney (CT-02), Ranking Member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, Wesley Bell (MO-01), and Maggie Goodlander (NH-02) led 15 of their colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee and 34 more Members of Congress in sending a letter to Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao expressing concern for the personnel and material readiness of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and requesting information on the ship's deployment and future.

"Like the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) before it, CVN-72's extended deployment is accompanied by deeply troubling reports about sailors' mental health and living conditions. These reports are not political conjecture; they come from sailors' worried family members," the lawmakers wrote. "Navy leadership took the appropriate step in meeting to address families' concerns, but there remains more to be done to ensure that the families and the public have faith that these sailors are being taken care of and that the Department is appropriately managing the fleet and its readiness for Operation Epic Fury."

Read the full letter here.

On Tuesday, the Navy Times reported on the mental health strain, exhaustion, and safety concerns of sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), which has been deployed for over eight months supporting President Trump's war with Iran, which included a span of 208 continuous days without porting, a carrier record.

Last month, Courtney led four of his colleagues on the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee in sending a letter to Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao requesting information on the future of the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and its scheduled maintenance following its return earlier this year after a 326-day deployment, the longest carrier deployment since the Vietnam War. Read the letter here.

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