As you know after a record length deployment the USS Lincoln was finally relieved of duties in the Iran War. It’s a long way home for them but at least they’ve made it part of the way and are getting a way to long overdue and much needed (for both the crew and the ship) port call in Thailand for seven days. Then, finally that trip across the Pacific and home. Except no, the Lincoln will NOT be returning to home port after their stop in Thailand! For ‘reasons’ the ship will have to spend more time on duty in the Indo-Pacific. In other words the reason why the administration didn’t give an estimate on when the Lincoln would be allowed to come home is because they aren’t going to let it do so.
That ship was put through a grueling deployment and spent more time on station in combat operations than any other aircraft carrier in our history. Even during the height of the Vietnam war and insane operational tempo ships, including carriers got to leave “Yankee Station” a couple of times for port calls during deployments almost as long as what the Lincoln has been through. Not now. No, what was supposed to be a standard six to seven month deployment that began last November got extended because of Trump’s Iran war. Worse, until the current stop in Thailand the ship spent well over 250 days at sea during which time they had just one day in port. Most of the time even those who got up on deck never saw land.
This it tough on both the Sailors (and Marines) who crew the the ship and the ship itself. As the title picture shows the Lincoln is more than a little beat up looking. Lord knows what is hidden under that rusty hull – the deferred maintenance that will take far longer to address than cleaning off rust and repainting the hull. Now, to be fair after six months or so at sea any carrier is going to have some rust on the hull, especially towards the bow at the waterline. You can’t just slap paint over it. No, you have to sand away the rust, apply two coats of primer and THEN repaint. That’s impractical when ships are underway during a deployment and even more so during combat operations. Also, the amount of such work is far more than can be done during a four to seven day port call.
Still, the ship is in rough shape. It’s not like the Lincoln was brand new when it was deployed and the exterior (and inside too) has seen plenty of ‘remove rust and repaint’ jobs during its lifetime. If you want a really good look at the ships condition there are several large sized photos of it in Thailand in this piece from The Associated Press. And again, that’s the superficial wear. There’s an awful lot inside that hull from the nuclear plant to the propulsion system to all those freaking steam pipes (which take lots of maintenance) running through the ship to the hydraulic systems to the launch and recover gear. The list is endless. After a normal deployment a ship will, if there are no major problems still spend many months in the yard undergoing routine maintenance.
The Lincoln is looking at years of maintenance after having been pushed so hard. Not to mention crew that will have to be replaced because it’s crew (and crew from other carriers) will decide to leave the Navy as soon as their enlistments are up! That training isn’t cheap either, and the cost in experience is almost incalculable.
For all that the real reason I’m writing this is because while we’d all assumed the Lincoln would be headed home after this port call, perhaps making one more stop along the way according to reporting from Newsweek that’s not going to happen. Ashley Rogers is married to a Sailor aboard the Lincoln. She told Newsweek according to her husband the ship has to stay a while longer in the Indo-Pacific to ‘complete time originally assigned to that region after it was diverted to the Middle East.’ If you’re saying WTF? you’re not alone. Ms. Rogers certainly doesn’t get why the ship is going to remain deployed. From her perspective the reasoning is at best dubious:
Rogers said that her husband told her the Lincoln had not completed its required time in the Indo-Pacific because it was rerouted to support U.S. operations connected to the war with Iran.
“The reason why is because this ship, the Lincoln, is actually assigned to and stationed in the Asian Pacific area of deployment, and where they were is not part of that area, that assignment,” Rogers said.
She has more to say in the linked article. For its part the Navy isn’t offering a different story or coming up with a reason for not announcing a projected return to home port date for the Lincoln:
The U.S. Navy has not independently confirmed the explanation. Multiple port visits during the return phase of a carrier deployment are not unusual and can serve logistical, maintenance, diplomatic and crew-welfare purposes. Carriers may also resume missions in their originally assigned region after being diverted elsewhere.
However, publicly available Navy material does not indicate that ships must formally “make up” a fixed number of days lost to a diversion, leaving unclear whether the Lincoln‘s additional stop reflects a binding scheduling requirement or revised orders issued during its extended deployment.
From where I sit Hegseth has convinced Trump to be dickish about the whole thing. There’s been plenty of justified criticism of the Lincoln’s deployment and a lot of bad PR about the conditions the crew has had to endure. Making them stay deployed is a ‘I’ll fix your ass for making me look like the incompetent fool I am’ type of thing Hegseth would do. I said in a previous article I’d love for his tanned, hair gelled ass to spend as little as a week confined to an enlisted berthing department along with his staff. Cramming their clothes into tiny lockers. Sleeping in racks that you can’t even sit upright in. Using a single ‘head’ (toilet) and shower AND only getting to take a ‘Navy shower.’ Eating the same food that was being served to the Lincoln’s crew for months. Mr. “Warrior” would be crying for his mommy long before that week was up!
So what we’ve got is Hegseth getting Trump’s blessing to ‘play God’ and f**k with the crew. As in you’ll only get to come home when I feel like you’ve been punished enough for telling your family and friends about the sh!t I put you through. I urge you to read the entire linked Newsweek article. As I said Ms. Rogers had much more to say (I’ll bet her husband has already said when his enlistment is up he’s out of the Navy!) and it goes into the condition of the ship – both what you can see and what you can’t.
Just keep in mind two things. After six months or more at sea any aircraft carrier is going to have some rust that needs some real work to clean up. And plenty more routine maintenance. The Lincoln has been at sea much long and it will be closer to a year when it finally comes home. AND during that time it was engaged in extended combat conditions, both deploying planes and weapons and defending itself. That rust is a symptom of a lot more wear and tear and the time to get the ship ready for another deployment is going to have ripple effects. That rust is also emblematic of the drop in morale and not just in the Navy.
That morale issue leads me to my second point. The Lincoln isn’t the only ship that’s endured an extended time at sea. But even Petey Boy realized it had to be relived and it took pulling a carrier from the task force who’s job it is to keep China in check in the Pacific to do it. There are going to be ripple effects and not good ones that will last literally for years over the half-assed way this administration took us to war. Worse than Bush 43’s disaster in fact. It too wasn’t thought all the way through by the civilians (and despite some time in the Air National Guard Baby Bush was essentially a civilian) who thought they knew more than actual soliders in uniform or retired from active duty like Colin Powell. But at least they took more than the time to cut orders and send troops off to start a war. AND if not the large coalition Bush 41 assembled there were still other nations taking part along with our own troops.
So, in the end the battered and rusted look of the USS Lincoln truly is representative of our military readiness and national security. Clearly worn and in need of rest and repair. AND with all sorts of wear and tear hidden from view. It will take years to recover from what Hegseth and Trump have done. The worst part is there’s little hope the damage being done is anywhere near close to ending.
Friends, I know everybody begs you for money. I promise you that, of all the outlets bugging you for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest-working. We’re a bunch of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. But the rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the ability to continue our quest to tell the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
