Multiple USS Abraham Lincoln sailors have tried to go overboard amid extended deployment, families say
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Multiple USS Abraham Lincoln sailors have tried to go overboard amid extended deployment, families say<br>By Natalie Oliverio<br>Aug 11, 2026, 11:16 PM
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln sails in support of Operation Epic Fury, March 3, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
Annabelle Loma has spoken with her husband only a few times since he attempted to jump overboard from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during his current deployment.<br>Communication has been difficult to come by, and he is now on medical hold.
Loma, who lives in San Diego, said her husband had been repeatedly overextended before he tried to jump from the carrier.<br>“He’s scared,” Loma said. “He thinks he’ll get a dishonorable discharge, and just because he was burnt out, his 13-year career is ruined, just like that. That’s not fair, that’s not right. That’s not what he should be worrying about right now.”<br>Loma said she initially received a call from the ship’s ombudsman after the incident but has not heard from anyone with the Navy in recent weeks.<br>Lincoln’s roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines remain on a deployment that began Nov. 21. The carrier has been deployed for more than eight months while supporting U.S. military operations in the Middle East against Iran.
The deployment, which was anticipated to end in May, has been extended with no publicly announced return date.<br>A sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln observes a fueling-at-sea alongside the USNS John Lewis, June 28, 2026. (U.S. Navy)In a separate incident aboard Lincoln, a sailor on watch saw a shipmate preparing to go overboard, and he intervened, according to the sailor’s wife, Maria Rodriguez.<br>Rodriguez said her husband called out to the sailor before reaching the individual and grabbing their arms, pulling them onto the deck. Her husband told her the sailor had not yet gone over the side when he got there. Three other sailors heard the commotion and came running to help.<br>Rodriguez’s husband told her about the incident several days after it happened.
“He said he hadn’t felt adrenaline like that in his life, and he was just so thankful he was able to get to [the sailor] in time, to stop them from going overboard,” Rodriguez said.<br>She did not know what happened to the sailor afterward.<br>Separately, Stars and Stripes reported Tuesday that sailors described an incident in which watchstanders stopped a crew member from jumping overboard. Stripes reported that the crew was informed about the incident through a shipwide announcement.<br>More than 200 family members attended a meeting in San Diego last week with acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao. During a separate virtual meeting later that evening, families raised concerns about sailors’ mental health, exhaustion and safety, according to recordings of the meeting reviewed by MS NOW.
Vice Adm. Joseph Cahill, commander of Naval Surface Forces, acknowledged the strain on sailors and their families during the virtual meeting.<br>“We hear you loud and clear [regarding] the impact this has on families, on service members and the long-term ability of us to stand, sustain our forces’ health,” Cahill said, according to MS NOW.<br>Cahill described deployment-resilience counselors and chaplains aboard warships, along with Human Factors Councils designed to review...