Annabelle Loma said her husband tried to jump overboard after his spell at sea kept being extended, part of the reports of sailors jumping overboard aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The crew is in its ninth month at sea, and the ship has gone 250 consecutive days without making land.
USS Abraham Lincoln deployment
The Navy Times and Stars and Stripes reported multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard during the current deployment. The USS Abraham Lincoln left San Diego on 21 November, was later redirected to the Middle East, and has spent only two days on land in Guam in December and Oman in July.
The deployment was originally scheduled to end in May but has been extended a couple of times. That left about 5,000 sailors and marines aboard the ship for a record-length stretch at sea while families described worsening conditions and rising strain.
Family town hall meeting
Last Thursday, military families met with Navy leaders in San Diego at a town hall meeting. Another sailor's wife said her husband prevented a fellow crew member from jumping and brought them back on deck, while Mike Levin described moldy showers, broken toilets, laundry down for weeks, long stretches with no hot water, a meal that came down to half a cup of rice and two tortillas, and no soap, deodorant, or toothpaste.
Pete Hegseth dismissed the accounts as more fake news. Annabelle Loma said of her husband, "He’s scared. He thinks he’ll get a dishonorable discharge, and just because he was burnt out his 13-year career is ruined, just like that". The family meeting left open how many sailors tried to go overboard and what Navy leaders will do after hearing from families.
