Eight US Navy sailors attempted suicide during USS Abraham Lincoln deployment, says Navy chief

Washington: Eight US Navy service members assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group attempted suicide during its deployment, the acting secretary of the Navy has told a senior senator.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao disclosed the figure in a September 22 response to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees.

“Since the beginning of Lincoln’s deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the strike group – this number includes the Lincoln crew and Sailors from the carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers, and all embarked aviation squadrons,” Cao wrote.

The disclosure prompted Gillibrand to renew criticism of President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth over their response to earlier complaints from sailors and their families about conditions aboard the carrier.

“What Trump and Secretary Hegseth dismissed as ‘fake news’ turned out to be serious and deteriorating conditions for our service members,” Gillibrand said.

“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.”

Cao’s response followed an August letter from Gillibrand and 14 other senators to Hegseth. The lawmakers had sought greater transparency after reports describing poor living and working conditions aboard the Lincoln.

The Navy secretary’s letter provided details about one of the eight incidents.

“One Sailor attempted to go overboard in March and was stopped by his shipmates,” Cao wrote. “That Sailor was also provided immediate medical care and subsequently returned to homeport.”

The material released by Gillibrand’s office did not provide details about the other seven attempts, including when they occurred or the condition of the sailors involved.

It also did not include an updated response from the White House or Pentagon to Gillibrand’s criticism.

Gillibrand’s earlier letter sought information about the carrier group’s deployment, its expected return and the Navy’s plans to relieve the personnel aboard.

The lawmakers also asked about operational readiness, medical and mental-health resources, living conditions and support for families of deployed sailors.

The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group includes personnel aboard the aircraft carrier, its embarked air wing, escorting destroyers and the headquarters staffs supporting the deployment.

Carrier deployments require thousands of sailors to work for extended periods in confined environments, often under demanding operational schedules and with limited contact with their families.

Gillibrand said the newly disclosed suicide attempts showed that concerns raised about the sailors’ welfare required serious attention rather than dismissal.

Her statement did not announce new legislation. It increased pressure on the Navy and the Defence Department to explain how commanders responded to the attempts and what additional mental-health support was made available across the strike group.

IANS