EDITOR’S NOTE: This story contains discussion of suicide. Help is available if you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts or mental health problems. In the US, call or text 988 for help. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide have contact information for crisis centers around the world. Eight US Navy personnel assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group attempted suicide during a period that included when the ships undertook combat operations against Iran and the aircraft carrier set a modern record for its time at sea, according to a letter from the service’s acting secretary, which was obtained by CNN. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao revealed the previously unreported figure, which covers crew members from several ships traveling together, including the aircraft carrier, in written responses to questions posed by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand about the morale and mental health of the USS Abraham Lincoln crew. Cao wrote that no service members had committed suicide during the deployment. The rate of suicide attempts among sailors in the Lincoln Strike Group was roughly consistent with that of the entire active-duty Navy in 2024, the most recent year for which the Pentagon has released data on suicides. That year, the Navy saw 356 suicide attempts among its approximately 337,000 active-duty sailors. “Since the beginning of Lincoln’s deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the entire strike group,” Cao wrote to Gillibrand, a Democrat and Senate Armed Services member, in a letter dated Tuesday. “This number includes Lincoln’s crew and sailors from the carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron personnel, escort destroyers, and all embarked aviation squadrons.” Between 6,000 and 7,000 U.S. Navy sailors were deployed as part of the Lincoln Strike Group on about a half-dozen ships, and the carrier remained out of port for more than six months while conducting a high rate of combat operations against Iran. “Eight suicide attempts is incredibly high,” a US military official told CNN, noting that recent carrier strike group deployments have had one or two per year. “The stress of combat operations is much greater than that of normal deployments. There are no port calls, constant alerts, etc.” The Navy did not respond before publication to a request for comment on the letter. The Lincoln deployed with several mental health resources on board, including five chaplains, an integrated integrated prevention counselor, a psychologist, a clinical social worker, three behavioral health technicians and an expeditionary installation dog, according to Cao’s letter. CNN previously reported that two sailors assigned to the Lincoln Strike Group, one from the aircraft carrier and one from another ship, had jumped overboard in recent months. Both were rescued, U.S. officials said. Others were prevented from jumping, according to reports in Navy Times and Stars and Stripes. In his letter to Gillibrand, Cao also confirmed that a sailor assigned to the air wing fell from the ship in early August, but was “quickly recovered” and treated by the Lincoln’s medical department. “In addition, a sailor attempted to fall overboard in March and was detained by his shipmates. That sailor also received immediate medical attention and subsequently returned to home port.” The Navy previously said in a statement to CNN: “We have not observed an increase in suicidal ideation or attempts aboard the ship. We take the well-being of every service member seriously and have religious, medical and mental health professionals available to assess and address concerns as they arise.” A US official also previously told CNN that the Navy does not believe there is a correlation between the length of deployment and thoughts of self-harm, and that man overboard incidents are not unique to this group. A Lincoln crew member previously described to CNN that morale on the aircraft carrier was very low and said they had repeatedly heard about suicidal thoughts from other crew members. And there were regular strains on essential services: Bathrooms and water fountains around the ship were frequently closed and hot water was often not available, the crew member said. “Every day we wake up and hear our captain speak, we desperately wait and are anxious for updates on our return,” the crew member told CNN, speaking before the ship was ordered to return to its home port in San Diego. The ship left the Middle East in August and is expected to return to San Diego in the coming weeks. Other sailors aboard the Lincoln who spoke to CNN described conditions different from their previous deployments, largely due to combat that has prevented the carrier from stopping at friendly ports. Ships can acquire new supplies and allow their sailors to rest and relax during those port calls. CNN’s Davis Winkie contributed to this report.
