Adm. Brad Cooper on Sunday praised the crew of the USS Abraham LIncoln on a record-breaking deployment and promised the 5,000 Marines and sailors aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that relief was coming, with sister ship the USS George Washington making its way into the Indian Ocean.
The admiral, the top American commander in the Middle East, called his tour one day earlier of the Lincoln, part of a 10-day trip to the region that ended Saturday, “awe-inspiring.”
He acknowledged the mental health challenges faced by the crew, but he defended the Lincoln’s record in a statement posted to social media: “Here’s an important fact: Of the U.S. Navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers, the Lincoln currently has among the lowest number of cases related to mental health … This doesn’t mean that all is perfect. Find any of the nearly 4 million Navy veterans in America today and they will likely tell you that service at sea for long periods isn’t for everyone.”
The warship has been the focus of intense media coverage and public controversy over its extended deployment of more than 250 days at sea supporting U.S. military operations against Iran. Some family members of the crew have complained about poor living conditions, including substandard food.
Navy officials said Adm. Cooper met with the crew for the second time this year. He previously visited the Lincoln in February along with Trump administration envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
“The Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is a strong team of high-achieving Americans standing tall with immense, justified pride in everything they accomplished,” he said. “History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era.”
Iranian officials on Sunday announced a bounty on U.S. military personnel in the Persian Gulf area.
Speaking at a ceremony honoring National Journalists’ Day, Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami, commander in chief of Iran’s army, said anyone who kills or captures a U.S. service member and hands them over to authorities will receive a reward of about $30,000.
An Iranian woman who captures or kills a U.S. service member will receive double the reward, which is being backed by a crowdfunding campaign, Iran’s official Mehr News Agency reported.
A U.S. official told The Washington Times that the USS Abraham Lincoln is operating in a highly contested environment where combat missions have disrupted traditional supply hubs in the Middle East.
“In response, leadership prioritized mission-critical supplies: first food, then hygiene items, then mail,” the official said. “Current reports from the ship confirm continuous access to clean water, functional air conditioning, and healthy meal options.”
Retired Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, spoke with Adm. Cooper just after the visit to the Lincoln.
“He told me he had a really good visit. He said many of these problems were early in the deployment and they were solved,” Adm. Mullen said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “But these are morale issues on a ship, which you really have to focus on. They have been pressed in combat — the number of missions [and] the accomplishments.”
He said the replenishment concerns about the Lincoln and its lack of port visits are likely a result of operating in a combat environment where supply depots in places like Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates have been targeted by Iran.
“Those places where we normally would go for some rest and relaxation, they just weren’t usable,” Adm. Mullen said. “You had to adjust on the fly. It became very, very difficult to find a place to do that, so basically, you end up staying at sea.”
He said the morale aboard the carrier perked up considerably after Adm. Cooper confirmed to the crew that they would be relieved by the Japan-based USS George Washington. It was last reported passing through the Strait of Malacca, a 560-mile stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
The strait is the shortest sea corridor connecting the Indian and Pacific oceans and is one of the busiest shipping routes in global commerce.
On Saturday, the United Arab Emirates accused Iran of launching attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The UAE said that a ship belonging to the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company was struck while transiting the waterway.
“Targeting commercial shipping and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion or blackmail represents acts of piracy by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and constitutes a direct threat to the stability of the region, its peoples, and global energy security,” according to a statement from the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group departed its home base in San Diego in November and arrived in the Middle East in January. It has launched thousands of combat flights in support of Operation Epic Fury, regional security missions, and the ongoing naval blockade against Iran.
Some relatives of Lincoln crew members reported an uptick in mental health crises aboard the ship, including suicide attempts. Navy officials later confirmed that a sailor assigned to the Lincoln’s attached air wing went overboard from the ship in early August.
“The sailor was quickly recovered by an air wing search and rescue helicopter, treated by Abraham Lincoln’s medical department, and transferred off the ship for follow-on care,” the Navy said. “The sailor’s family was notified according to standing notification policies.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has condemned the “reckless and shameless” media reports that he says misrepresent the conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
“The brave sailors of that strike group are very proud of their tough and historic mission. They embody resilience and excellence,” Mr. Hegseth said on X.
On Sunday, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command also had to bat down reports that female sailors and Marines aboard the USS Boxer amphibious assault ship were experiencing a shortage of hygiene products.
“The ship has had four port visits since departing San Diego in March. The crew has been at sea for less than two months since the last port call and [the ship] is stocked with feminine products, including at the ship store and in medical offices on board,” Navy officials said. “Additionally, the ship has had two major mail deliveries so far during the month of August. The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group remains fully equipped and prepared to execute all assigned missions.”
Iran on Saturday slammed President Trump’s remarks that the Strait of Hormuz would become a U.S. territory after Tehran’s defeat. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazeem Gharibabadi said it will take more than rhetoric for the U.S. to control the vital maritime chokepoint.
“The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by Tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech,” Mr. Gharibabadi said Saturday on X. “Iran neither fears threats nor cowers before displays of power.”
Mr. Trump made the claim Friday while addressing a crowd at the Nassau County Police Academy in Garden City, New York.
“After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” the president said.
White House officials later said Mr. Trump was joking and that there are no plans for the U.S. to claim the strait as American territory.
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