USS Abraham Lincoln to dock in Thailand next week after record Middle East deployment – US politics live

The US Navy aircraft ⁠carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln will dock in ⁠ Thailand next ⁠week, ​following a prolonged deployment in the Middle East ⁠during the Iran war, a Thai official said on ⁠Tuesday.

The Lincoln, which left the ​Middle East ‌on Saturday, ‌has not make a port call ‌in more than 200 days, setting a modern-day record for consecutive days at sea, according to Democrats, amid reports ‌of concerns about mental health and deteriorating conditions aboard.

The ​ship, which has roughly 5,000 sailors and marines aboard, will be in Thailand for “rest ⁠and recreation after their long sea ​journey,” ​the official said, ​asking not to be ​named. A ‌Thai Navy ​spokesperson ​did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an interview last week, the wife of a sailor onboard the USS Lincoln told the Guardian as the deployment has stretched on and on, she has noticed a change in her husband’s messages. “There’s less hope in the way he talks and less positive things that he has to say,” she said.

“He’s just exhausted,” she added. “It’s a long, long deployment and it takes a toll.”

Reports from families of crew members published in the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes military newspapers described food and water shortages, disrupted mail services, plumbing problems, low morale and worsening mental health, prompting Democratic lawmakers to demand answers from the Pentagon.