What Went Wrong on the U.S.S. Lincoln?

Hey. >> Hi. It's Rachel Abrams. I'm one of the. hosts of The Daily. It's very nice to. meet you. >> Yeah, hey. It's nice to meet you, too. >> [music]. >> From The New York Times, I'm Rachel. Abrams, and this is The Daily. >> [music]. >> In recent weeks, family members of. sailors have been raising alarms about. the conditions on board the USS Abraham. Lincoln. >> This is a much longer deployment than it. was supposed to be. They're gone so much.

longer than they were supposed to be. gone, and it's hard. >> There are 5,000 service members on the. ship, and they've been at sea for nearly 9. months straight without stepping foot on. land. >> I'm constantly getting asked, "When. When's your husband coming home?" And, you know, you just have to say, "Oh, well, we're thinking June. Oh, we think. July. Oh, we think August." But, you. know, we don't really know yet, so just. keep us in your prayers. >> I spoke with the wife of one of those. sailors. She said this isn't her husband's first.

deployment, but it has been the. toughest. >> [music]. >> I really cannot imagine being. stuck in a floating box for, you know, however many I can't even I. don't even know what the day count is. [music] now, but, you know, for 200 plus. days. for 24 hours. >> She said she's concerned about the. conditions on the ship [music]. and whether her husband is getting. enough food. >> He sends me a picture of his meal, and. I'm thinking, "Oh my goodness.". On his plate, there was a few slices of. bacon.

that. >> [music]. >> did not look cooked. And like chicken. wings, like couple inches tall ones, and that was it. >> When he sent you that picture of food, what was your first thought? >> I was like, "Are you hungry? This is not okay. >> [music]. >> We're expecting people to fight for our. country, and yet we're not giving them a. full meal?". That [music] blows my mind. >> She said she'd lost contact with her. husband, sometimes for weeks at a time. >> [music]. >> And she watched reports on the news that. American sailors were coming under.

attack. She didn't know how he was doing and his. return date kept getting pushed later. and later. >> I can just like read his tone or the. text. And he's just gotten more and more like. exhausted. So I just worry about him. and a lot of other people mentally. >> [music]. >> I'm not expecting the conditions for. them to be in to be summer camp. They are in the middle of the ocean. [music] and they are surrounded by.

not America. Nobody enters this life. expecting it to be fun. This is a whole. other level. >> [music]. >> of bad. >> Today my colleague John Ismay explains. [music]. what went wrong on the USS Lincoln. How it could impact the US military's. [music] war-fighting capability. And what kind of toll it's taken on the. men and women [music] in uniform. >> Yes, we kind of knew what we were. getting into. But this is way.

>> [music]. >> harder than what it should be. >> It's Tuesday, August 18th. John Ismay, welcome to the daily. >> Thanks for having me. >> So John, you are a former Navy man if. I'm not mistaken and we just heard from. the wife of a service member aboard the. USS Lincoln. And I want to talk about. sort of what the conditions on this ship. have been like and how they fit more. broadly into what the military is. experiencing right now, but I want to. just start with your understanding of.

some of the issues here. John, tell us. when did you first start hearing that. there were issues with the conditions on. board this ship? >> Yeah, sure. So I think it was about a. few weeks ago I started to see. indications on social media, websites or. outlets that cover military news. And at. first they were issues that we've heard. about from other deployments such as. you know, morale taking a hit because. they've been extended, trouble getting mail, trouble getting. enough food. And I've gotten some photos.

of meals that people have taken from on. board the ship and then sent to their. family. One was a photo of what. breakfast was like for most of this. deployment. And it was sort of one. square of a waffle and two sausage. patties. Then there was another photo showing. what a meal was like when CNN had a. reporter and a camera crew aboard. recently. Then there were eggs and there. were vegetables. There was a whole bunch. of food. And then I got a photo of what.

a meal looked like after CNN depart the. ship and it was back to pretty meager. rations. >> So, you know, food issues aside, there. were more serious allegations. We got. reports or we heard reports that a. sailor had tried to jump overboard from. the Lincoln. >> Wow. >> Now, we haven't confirmed that, so we. haven't published that, right? When the. mental health concerns became public, that's when the story really started to. gain traction in the national news. cycle.

>> What's happened here is in many ways a. betrayal of trust by the Pentagon's top. leaders because they have failed to. provide what. the sailors on that ship need to avoid. hardship. >> And you had Democratic lawmakers. starting to speak out publicly. >> And certainly the president has shown. that he just doesn't really care about. the troops. His lackadaisical attitude. about men and women in their. deployments, you know, just kind of. reflects what he actually thinks about. them. He thinks of them more as toys, but not the fact that they truly at the.

end of the day are humans. >> And then Pete Hegseth comes out and. denies everything on the record. >> That's completely misrepresented. Listen, we make sure at. every ship, every crew, every captain. has everything we can provide them at. every single moment. >> Saying essentially there are no. problems. And then today you've got. President Trump. >> You're a loud, boisterous person. You're. fake news. Be quiet. >> who lashed out at a reporter who asked. questions.

>> Mr. President, is there enough Is there. enough food on the USS Lincoln? >> Yeah, it is. It was a It was a CNN fake. report. >> And then said essentially that all. criticism of what he's doing is fake. news. >> I was at a at a group uh meeting and an. admiral came up to see me over the. weekend. And it was at a big group and he. happened to be an admiral retired. He. said, "I've been on ships that are out. there much longer than that, sir. And I. know people on the Lincoln. They say. it's beautifully maintained and.

beautifully taken care of.". >> Despite everything from the White House, what my reporting showed is that there. are much larger problems affecting the. ship. >> Let's talk about the details of this, John. There's been a lot of talk about. the length of this deployment of this. particular ship. I think we're going on. about 9 months right now. Explain to us. what is unusual about that in this case. and why people are focusing so much on. that.

>> Yeah, absolutely. So, in peacetime. a you know, deployment for a warship is. generally about 6 months. >> Mhm. >> Carriers would often stretch out to 7. months, maybe a little bit later. After. the 9/11 attacks, deployments of 8. months, even 9 months became fairly. routine because there are only so many. aircraft carriers the Navy has. What is. different here is that the Lincoln. having deployed on November 21st was. expected to get back to San Diego in.

May. And they've been ex- tended I think. twice at this point. And they do not. have any date for when when going to. leave the Middle East or when they're. going to get home. >> Mhm. >> And so, as we're here talking today, the USS Abraham Lincoln has been at sea. for 270 days without any sort of break. for her crew, any liberty port. >> A liberty port meaning where the service. members can get off the ship and get. some kind of a break.

>> That's right. And the comparable idea. is really just imagine doing your job. for like almost a year without being. able to take any weekends off. And oh, by the way, you can't leave your office. or the floor of your office. >> Yeah. A carrier of this type is big. It's as. long, a little bit. longer than the Chrysler building is. tall and a little bit less than the. Empire State Building. It's basically a series of. interconnected windowless metal boxes.

That's the easiest way to describe it. >> Mhm. >> You know, sometimes to go from one. compartment to another, you have to open. a watertight door and then close it. behind you to seal it off, just to get. from point A to B. You may have to walk through the hangar. deck, you may have to walk through walk. past all sorts of machinery spaces. It's. often very loud. You know, I had hearing. loss for a while after my first tour. >> Mhm. >> And you're sleeping there, you're with. the same few dozen people that you see. every day, that you work with.

You don't have much privacy and working. days typically go longer than 12 hours. You know, 16, 18-hour days. are not uncommon. And some jobs are sort. of the worst conditions are what we call. port and starboard watch where you're on. for six, off for six, on for six, off. for six. And during that time off. you're balancing sleep and any semblance. of relaxation or self-care with all of. your other duties on the ship that you. have to do.

>> Being stuck on a ship with your. colleagues under such intense. conditions, that sounds frankly quite awful and. almost like a psychological experiment. when you throw in the lack of sleep. And. you are saying that people on the. Lincoln, they have been doing this for. the better part of a year. How unusual. is that, John? How should we even be. thinking about that in the context of. previous military deployments? >> I mean, there was one carrier just this. year that came, you know, back to. Norfolk after like 11 months at sea. And it broke a record for the longest.

carrier deployment since the Vietnam. War. But a really important thing to. know is that even for the aircraft. carriers that were off the coast of. Vietnam, all those years ago, every. month or two months, they would. generally head east to Subic Bay in the. Philippines, where the US Navy had a. massive base. And the ship could refit, reload, food, water, ammunition, everything it needed. And these people. aren't getting it. And I think. even for a really good crew, a.

well-trained crew, it's the length of. time that becomes a factor because some. people can become complacent when they. do the same thing over and over again, right? You know, lack of sleep has been. shown to, you know, I think it was being. awake for 24 hours is like having a. point one blood alcohol content. And. fatigue creates safety problems. You. know, these sailors are working around. heavy equipment and machinery that a lot.

of which, if you're not careful, you. will die. You know, if you're on the You. can't go on the flight deck of an. aircraft carrier at night without some. special training on where to stand. I. mean, if an arresting cable snaps, that. can cut people in half, literally. You. know, take off their legs. Deaths on these deployments are not. unheard of. And so, chronic fatigue is. what gets people hurt or worse. >> So, from what you're saying, it actually.

sounds like there may be a two buckets. of issues. Like there are the issues. that are coming from this ongoing. fatigue from this extended deployment. that are safety related, but also the. ship just can't restock the way that it. normally would. >> That's right. Now, for warships at sea, they are able to do what's called an. underway replenishment. There is usually. a supply ship that accompanies a carrier. strike group. And that supply ship would. be able to give you fuel for your jets.

and your helicopters, and give you food. You may be doing that about every 3. days. But generally speaking, you know, 3 weeks into being at sea, vegetables [snorts]. disappear. You know, that means salads. That means, you know, things to have. with lunch and dinner. And you're pretty. much eating out of cans and and bagged. food. So, if you ever get fresh. vegetables, fresh fruit, it could. actually be a huge morale boost just. because you haven't had these things for. so long. >> You're mentioning after two or three.

weeks, you run out of fruits and. vegetables. And just to remind. everybody, we're talking about 9 months. here. >> Yeah. Have you ever eaten dehydrated. eggs? >> Uh mercifully not, no. >> Yeah. Well, I mean, in the Navy, nobody's expecting a gourmet meal. From. my experience, I always felt that. quantity equals quality, right? Like as. long as you have enough to eat, that's. kind of it. Hot sauce goes a long way in. making things taste better. But based on the photos that I'm getting. from family members of crew members on. the the Lincoln,

the food appears to be rationed. It. doesn't appear that you know, plates are. very full. >> That actually leads me to my next. question, John, because I think that any. military family would say, like look, we. expect a certain amount of hardship. here. The wife of the service member. that we spoke to for this conversation. that I'm having with you, she makes this. very clear. But can you explain to. people that might be unfamiliar with. this kind of service, what is the. difference between the hardship that. these families know to expect and what.

is actually happening now? >> Yeah, well, I think that there are. certain hardships that sailors. definitely are expecting. Long. separations from home, living conditions not what you would. prefer, right? There's a difference. between that and having an open-ended. commitment. that starts to feel like it breaks faith. with those sailors because. >> [clears throat]. >> there needs to be some sort of trust.

with leaders that hey, when we say. we're going to be gone this length of. time, that that's what happens, right? So, I mean, I guess what it comes down to. it, there is a difference between. regular hardship. and borderline abuse. So, I mean, I. think that. for the services, for the Navy, for US. Central Command, and for the Secretary of Defense to. basically be saying warrior ethos, war. is hell, all those things, I don't think.

that really cuts it. >> What did you learn about what is driving. all of these issues? Like I think people. might just assume maybe that the Lincoln. has undergone all this hardship just. because of the fighting with Iran. >> Well, there's a saying that logistics is. king. >> [music]. >> And that is the heart of this problem is. logistics. What I learned having deployed to that. region multiple times was not only.

shocking because [music] our own. government hasn't been forthcoming or. totally honest about this, but it has implications not only for. life aboard the Lincoln, the quality of life for the crew, but. major implications for the United. States' ability to operate militarily in. that region, period. >> [music]. >> We'll be right back.

So, John, from your reporting, what have. you learned about what has actually led. to these conditions on the Lincoln that. we've been hearing about? >> It really comes down to one thing, which. is logistics. And right now the Navy has. kind of talked about some logistical. difficulties in the region, but what really happened is that the. Navy's base in Manama, Bahrain, was.

destroyed by Iran starting on the first. day of the war. >> And explain why that base matters here. >> So, the name of the base is Naval. Support Activity Bahrain. It's a. logistics hub. There, people going to. and from the ships in the Persian Gulf. or the Gulf of Oman would come to. Bahrain first and get on a helicopter. or, you know, something else to get to one. of these ships. Food, all sorts of things comes through.

the mail, all comes through Bahrain and. then is sent to the ship. And a supply. ship trying to maintain a strike group. in the Gulf of Oman might take a day, maybe 2 days to get to Bahrain and then. time to unload and get back. But right. now, what I was told is that Bahrain is gone. And I was like, "What What do you mean. gone?" They're like, "Not there. Bye-bye. Gone." Right? >> Like destroyed. Yeah, I was told that.

there's a basically a skeleton crew. of Navy personnel there and that. everyone else who works at the base was. evacuated to Tampa, Florida. And that's where Central Command. headquarters is. And so, that means that your logistic train is. much much much longer. So, instead of. maybe being 100 miles, it's now 2,200. miles because. the next closest base that is not within. range of Iranian weapons is a tiny.

island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. called Diego Garcia. And it would take more than 5 days just. to get from the Gulf of Oman where those. two carrier strike groups and all the. destroyers are. to Diego Garcia. And then you obviously. have to. factor in time to load and offload. things. And then another 5 plus days to. get back out there. >> Okay, so basically the USS Lincoln other. ships they had been relying on this port.

in Bahrain. That got destroyed which. means that the next closest is a port. that is so far away that it's gumming up. the supply chain works. But just to ask. a really maybe a dumb question John, surely these two ports are not the only. places that have stuff that a ship might. need for example like I don't know fresh. eggs or whatever. So, why can't this. ship dock anywhere else to pick up some. of the supplies that the sailors are. missing? >> The answer is really simple. Any ports in the region that could.

handle a ship the size of an aircraft. carrier is also well within the range of. Iranian missiles and drones. And if you. took a ship as big as an aircraft. carrier. and parked it at say the Emirati port of. Fujairah which is on the Gulf of Oman. side of the Strait of Hormuz, you're a. sitting duck. You know, it's a time-consuming process. getting a ship that size in and out of. port. It doesn't happen quickly. You. need tugboats. You need a harbor pilot.

So, if a ship like the Lincoln was. moored in a port say Fujairah and. satellites whatever detected missiles. coming their way from Iran, it would take hours and hours to get the. ship underway and back out to sea. Meaning, the ship would still be there. when the missiles would hit. So, there. are no ports that are safe enough to. send a capital ship like an aircraft. carrier and not have it taken out of. commission. >> This sounds like.

as you mentioned, a real logistical. nightmare. in a conflict where logistics are kind. of everything as you explained. [clears throat]. If the only port is 5 days away as it is. in this case, what are the knock-on. effects of that for the Lincoln. specifically? >> So, when a ship is out to sea as long as. the Lincoln has without a port call, it means there's just a lot of. maintenance you can't get done. that you need to do to keep everything. working the way it has to to accomplish.

the mission. Meaning, what kind of shape are the engines in, you know, or in the case of the carrier, you know, it's nuclear reactors and all. the associated equipment. And up on the. flight deck, there's this. [clears throat] coating we called. non-skid. It's basically rippled asphalt. that goes up on the deck to make sure. that people and planes and helicopters. don't slide around. So, the problem is. that after. thousands of aircraft sorties, takeoffs, landings, taxiing on the flight deck, that coating that provides friction.

starts to break down, starts to chip. off, and then it becomes a real safety. hazard. And the best place to make. repairs for things like that is in port. So, when you start keeping a ship out. like the Abraham Lincoln out for 9. months or longer, it's going to necessarily be in worse. shape than it would if it came back at 6. months. And that's going to take, you know, maintenance, usually in a shipyard. That. can take months. And aircraft carriers are a limited. resource. Right now, the Navy only has.

11 of them. And it's going to go down to. 10 next year when one aircraft carrier. is decommissioned. But, there's another one that is they're. replacing the fuel rods in the nuclear. reactor. That takes years. You have. another carrier that's about to be. refueled. You have another one up in. Washington that's in a shipyard. So, there aren't that many of these things. to go around. >> And what are we supposed to extrapolate. from that, John? Like, what is the. bigger impact on the military from these. carriers being out of commission?

>> When you only have 11 carriers, and you're burning through the fourth. one right now, you do that long enough and you run out. of carriers to use. One thing I don't. think we've talked about yet is that the. Navy keeps an aircraft carrier forward. deployed in Yokosuka, Japan, in the US. 7th Fleet. That ship is basically. there in case of emergency break glass. Do you send the carrier from Yokosuka.

outside of the 7th Fleet. And that's. exactly what's happening right now. The. USS George Washington is the Japan-based. carrier. And that ship is being sent to. relieve the Lincoln right now. Might. still be a week or more for the ship to. get there, but that creates what you. call an opportunity cost. >> [snorts]. >> If the George Washington is not in the. South China Sea as a deterrent for North. Korea and China, you're basically out of luck. You would. have to spin up anything that's.

available in San Diego to try and get. out there as fast as you can. But, having ridden a carrier from San Diego. to Yokosuka, that took us a month. And that was when we were ready. So, the. George Washington going to the Middle. East means that there's a gap in the. Pacific that is not easily filled. >> So, basically just months into this war. with Iran, the US Navy is essentially. using its break glass emergency plan. >> That's right. You know, in soccer terms, it's like pulling the goalie, right? And.

that's what the carrier in Japan has. always been. And right now, that carrier. is heading to the Middle East and leaves. the South China Sea. all of the Western Pacific without a. carrier ready to go. >> This is all feeling a little bit like a. a zero-sum game. And maybe if you paid. attention to the military, you've known. that the whole time. But I I can't help. but think about the issues that we went. to a war over to begin with. Like Iran's.

nuclear program for instance. And how. that has been a long-standing issue for. multiple presidential administrations. And what you are describing, the strain. that we are seeing on the resources, this zero-sum game, if you will. Mhm. I. can't help but wonder whether or not. that very thing, that very issue and. tension is perhaps one of the reasons. that previous administrations dealing. with these same persistent problems with. Iran didn't go to war to begin with. earlier. Like, in other words, how. predictable was all of this?

>> So, for decades, the Navy has assumed. that any attack on Iran would result in. the Iranians immediately shutting down. the Strait of Hormuz. You know, they. have mines, [clears throat] they have. missiles, all of that. And they've also assumed. that Iran would target American. logistics in the area. Bahrain would be expected to be wiped. out on day one. And that's exactly what. happened. Iran closed the Strait on day. one. So, really only if you. launch this war.

with just supreme overconfidence. and belief that everything is going to. work, do you launch that war without an. alternative to say the base in Bahrain. where you could resupply ships. The fact. that they're moving things in and out of. Diego Garcia. to me speaks to a real failure of. planning. >> We have heard in recent days from the. administration that help is on the way. for these sailors on the USS Lincoln. What do we know about when that will.

happen and how likely it will be that it. works according to plan? >> Yeah, so the ship that's coming to. relieve the Abraham Lincoln is the USS. George Washington, right? Mid last week. we understood that the GW was going. through the Strait of Malacca in. Indonesian waters. Likely would take a. week, maybe longer to get there, you. know, just quick back of the envelope. kind of math. It's likely that journey is about 3,000. mi. It's probably going to take a week.

or more for the George Washington to get. there. And talking to people who have family. members on the Abraham Lincoln, their. sailors are telling them, "We don't even. want a port call right now. Like screw [music] it. We just want to. get home. We don't want you to try and. throw us a bone, like a consolation. prize of going to Thailand or or someone. else. Just plot a course for San Diego. and let's get out of here and. [clears throat] get home as fast as we. can.".

One of the family members I talked to, their child on the ship. hopes to be back for Halloween, maybe to dress [music] up in a costume. and hand out candy to kids, basically 2. months from now. Which would mean the ship would have. been out for a year. But these sailors still, >> [music]. >> as far as we know, haven't been given a. date when they can expect to be back. home.

>> We'll be right back. >> [music]. >> Here's what else you need to know today. >> [music]. >> Construction on a border security road. in Texas' Big Bend National Park has. been temporarily halted pending a visit. by the Customs and Border Protection. Commissioner to assess the project. Contractors have been building a new. patrol road and vehicle barriers along.

the border with Mexico, carving a path with bulldozers and. excavators [music]. through some of the park's major natural. attractions. The work had drawn national attention, bipartisan criticism, and several. [music] lawsuits. Local law enforcement officials have. said the border infrastructure is costly. and unnecessary [music] in a desolate. and undeveloped area where few migrants. have ever crossed, even during times of. peak migration. >> [music]. >> And. a preliminary investigation into the.

death of actress Hayden Panettiere. produced no evidence of foul play. [music]. First responders found that the actress. had suffered from cardiac arrest after. an apparent drug overdose, according to. a person with knowledge of the situation. who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The 36-year-old known for TV shows. [music] including Nashville and Heroes. had been open about her struggles with. substance abuse and mental health issues. after rising to fame as a teenager. Today's episode [music] was produced by.

Lexi Dio, Jessica Chung, and Shannon. Lynn. It was edited by MJ Davis Lynn and. Michael Benoît. with research help from Susan Lee. It contains music by Marion Lozano and. Pat McCusker. Our theme music is by Wonderly, and this. episode was engineered by Chris Wood. >> [music]. >> That's it [music] for The Daily. I'm. Rachel Abrams. See you tomorrow.