Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Awards USS Abraham Lincoln Crew Following Record Deployment

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the USS Abraham Lincoln on Wednesday to present the crew with the Presidential Unit Citation, the military's highest unit honor, just one day before the ship was scheduled to return to its home port of San Diego. The award recognizes the carrier and its accompanying ships for their role in Operation Epic Fury, a campaign identified by the administration as the Iran war.

According to the citation read by Hegseth, the strike group carried out 3,693 combat missions, launched 450 Tomahawk cruise missiles, and delivered 1.37 million pounds of ordnance. The operation also included an "ironclad maritime blockade against Iran," during which the group reportedly sank 64 Iranian warships and downed 77 attack drones.

The deployment marked a record-breaking 265 uninterrupted days at sea. While the extended duration drew national scrutiny regarding crew stress, mental health, and supply chain reports, Hegseth defended the mission during his visit. He explicitly pushed back against narratives characterizing the ship as a "symbol of dysfunction," telling the crew that their resilience allowed them to overcome supply challenges and "finish the mission nonetheless."

Earlier in the deployment, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao acknowledged that meal options had been temporarily reduced due to combat-related resupply delays, though he maintained that the crew was served four nutritionally balanced meals daily. The Navy also reported eight suicide attempts among the 6,000 sailors aboard during the 10-month period.

The Lincoln departed San Diego in late November and arrived in the Middle East in January. Following its departure, the USS George Washington—usually stationed in Asia—relieved the Lincoln in August. Currently, U.S. officials are planning for the potential arrival of a third aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, in the region by the end of October.