Sailors have reportedly attempted to go overboard from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during an open-ended deployment that is now nearing nine months at sea.
Annabelle Loma has spoken with her husband only a few times since he attempted to jump overboard, reported Military Times, and he’s now on medical hold and consumed by the fear the incident will end his 13-year Navy career.
“He’s scared,” said Loma. “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.”
Loma said her husband had been repeatedly overextended before the incident, telling the publication she received one phone call from the ship’s ombudsman afterward, but she hasn’t heard from the Navy since.
Lincoln’s roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines deployed Nov. 21 to support U.S. operations against Iran in the Middle East. The deployment, which had been expected to end in May, has no announced return date.
Maria Rodriguez said her husband, standing watch aboard Lincoln, spotted a shipmate preparing to go over the side, called out, and grabbed the sailor’s arms before they went over, with three other sailors rushing to help.
“He said he hadn’t felt adrenaline like that in his life,” Rodriguez said. Stars and Stripes separately reported watch standers stopping another crew member from jumping.
More than 200 family members met with acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao in San Diego last week, and a separate virtual meeting drew concerns about sailors’ exhaustion and safety as living conditions on board the ship deteriorate.
Vice Adm. Joseph Cahill acknowledged the toll: “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.”
The Navy cites counselors, chaplains and Human Factors Councils aboard ship, but hasn’t disclosed how many sailors have attempted to go overboard or self-harm during the deployment.
Shelby Sanders, whose mother serves aboard Lincoln, said emails home reveal exhaustion after weeks of nonstop combat operations, and she’s unsure her mother will be home for senior-year milestones.
Manuel Guevara, whose son is aboard, said the uncertainty “starts to eat away at you.”
The USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group is being prepared to relieve Lincoln, Cao told families, though no timeline has been released for operational security reasons.
Loma, meanwhile, is raising the couple’s three children alone. “I’m trying to keep a happy face for our three kids,” she said. “I can’t just worry and break down, even though I want to — every single day.”
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