Poor Conditions on USS Lincoln, Economic Warfare on Iran, Ukraine's Drone Campaign

Sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have been at sea for nearly nine months, a record that surpasses even the extended deployments of the COVID era. Lawmakers are demanding the Pentagon investigate reports of food shortages, broken toilets, and inadequate mental health care on the carrier, which has been stationed in the Middle East supporting the war effort in Iran. After leaving San Diego in November, the ship had only one brief port visit. The war has made resupply difficult: Iran attacked the Navy's main regional hub in Bahrain shortly after the war began in late February, forcing the Navy to scramble for alternative logistics. Rear Admiral Benjamin Nicholson, head of Navy Sealift Command, acknowledged that the logistics hubs the Navy normally relies on "were not available to us." The crew has felt the strain acutely. Fresh fruit and vegetables run out first, mail deliveries are slow, and most sailors live below deck, sometimes not seeing the sun for weeks. The Navy says it has seen no increase in suicidal ideation or attempts aboard the ship and that mental health professionals are on hand, but the Associated Press reports the Navy will eventually move the USS Washington into the region to replace the Lincoln.