The USS Abraham Lincoln will return to its California homeport after a 321-day deployment that raised concerns over degrading sailor morale and mental health.

The ship left Naval Station San Diego on Nov. 21, 2025, and joined military operations in the Middle East after the U.S. launched the Iran war alongside Israel on Feb. 28.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will greet sailors on Wednesday while the ship is still underway, a day before the service members set foot on American soil for the first time in over 10 months.

“Secretary Hegseth will welcome the USS Lincoln home tomorrow following their deployment,” the Defense Department said. “Secretary Hegseth will also speak to the crew on the ship, participate in PT and eat lunch with warfighters in the area.”

On Aug. 6, families of loved ones aboard the Lincoln told military officials at a town hall meeting in San Diego, California, that they were concerned about possibilities of self-harm and food shortages.

Military Times reported several days later that two service members attempted to jump overboard, though the circumstances that led to their attempts were unclear.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao confirmed in a Sept. 22 letter to Congress that eight sailors attempted suicide aboard ships from the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group since the beginning of its deployment.

Sailors and Navy mental health professionals told Military Times that the psychiatric assistance system meant to help sailors aboard carriers is strained and unable to meet the demands of prolonged combat deployments.

The Lincoln arrived in Thailand on Sept. 2 for its first scheduled port visit in over 260 days.

The ship had previously pulled into Guam on Dec. 11, 2025.

When the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier pulls into port on Thursday, it will be several days shy of the USS Gerald Ford’s 326-day record for the longest post-Vietnam carrier deployment that it notched earlier in 2026.

The ship pulled into Norfolk, Virginia, a week after naval aviators landing an E/A-18G Growler were forced to eject when the plane’s arresting gear failed.

The cause of the mishap is under investigation.

Search-and-rescue personnel from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 7 recovered the aviators from the ocean and returned them to the ship before they were flown off to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth for further medical evaluation.

Six other shipboard personnel were injured during the incident.

One sailor was medically evacuated from the ship to receive further treatment for non-life-threatening injuries at a Norfolk, Virginia, facility.

Another two sailors were flown to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.

The Navy told Military Times that the E/A-18G Growler that went overboard has not been recovered from the ocean.

The Navy’s investigation will recommend whether the service should salvage the aircraft.

The Eisenhower returned on July 15, 2024, from a nine-month deployment, during which it battled Iran-backed Houthi rebels along the Red Sea.

The ship finished up sea trials in April as part of its planned incremental availability and was conducting carrier qualifications in the Atlantic at the time of the incident.

The Defense Department Inspector General published a report Wednesday that criticized Naval Special Warfare Command for relying on an evaluation system that fell prey to a lack of oversight and compliance.

“The Naval Special Warfare Command did not consistently implement Do[D] and Naval Special Warfare Group Four (NSWG-4) policies regarding the identification, clinical evaluation, and subsequent care of SWCCs presenting symptoms of TBI,” the report found.

The Defense Department defines a traumatic brain injury as one that disrupts brain function as a result of external force.

The indications of TBI are identified through changes in mental function, including confusion and slower processing; memory loss; and dips in consciousness.

Navy special warfare personnel are required to fill out a mild TBI and Exposure Report form after returning from being away at sea and report any symptoms they’ve experienced that may be related to TBI.

If that person reports or displays symptoms indicative of a concussion, medical personnel perform an evaluation and screening called a Military Acute Concussion Evaluation, Version 2, to try to diagnose a concussion and a TBI.

But the Defense Department Inspector General found that many service members returning from an underway never filled out the report.

Between Jan. 1 and April 1, 2026, only 24 sailors with Naval Special Warfare Command completed the form, accounting for just 21 of 193 underways reported by Special Boat Team 12 and Special Boat Team 20 during that period.

The inspector general said this happened because there is currently no program that oversees the form-filling process or enforces compliance.

The watchdog found no evidence that commanders and senior leaders made sure service members completed the forms.

The forms also take several hours to complete, which discourages sailors from finishing the important paperwork.

Most importantly, over the span of six years, Naval Special Warfare Command didn’t record a single completed MACE-2 test for Special Boat Team 12 and Special Boat Team 20.

Between 2020 and 2026, 144 service members completed 634 TBI Exposure Forms after exhibiting symptoms of TBI, but not one of them underwent the concussion evaluation MACE-2 test meant to diagnose TBI.

The inspector general said this problem arose because the Navy’s concussion management plan only requires a corpsman to conduct a MACE-2 test if the service believes the sailor has a concussion.

But there is no foolproof way to identify a concussion, the inspector general said, leaving massive room for human error.

Medical personnel don’t conduct a MACE-2 unless the Navy special warfare service member, or senior official above them, asks for it.

Symptoms listed on the mild TBI and Exposure Report form also include maladies that don’t only pertain to concussions, making it unclear what may be indicative of a concussion.

The inspector general discovered that Navy special warfare personnel also sometimes deliberately circumvent the TBI process by providing answers to the MACE-2 test they have memorized beforehand.

These answers are delivered to downplay the severity of any potential symptom or injury.

The government watchdog said the weakness of the test is a byproduct of the Defense Department not having a standardized test for wave-impact events.

Naval Special Warfare Command additionally failed to ensure that service members displaying TBI symptoms arrived for follow-up appointments for medical attention.

The Navy’s concussion management plan requires a service member to return for a medical follow-up appointment within two weeks of returning to duty.

But none of the 634 TBI Exposure Forms completed between 2020 and 2026 documented a completed follow-up appointment within that time frame.

One Navy special warfare service member told the inspector general that fear of losing their job on the boat played into ditching follow-up appointments.

They said reporting symptoms could derail deployment exercises.

In response to their report, the inspector general recommended that Naval Special Warfare Command develop a more comprehensive way to identify TBI in special warfare combat crewmen and ensure service members receive follow-up treatment.

The government watchdog also recommended that Naval Special Warfare Command’s senior medical officer work closely with the branch chief of the Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence to institute a standardized checklist to assess TBI from wave impacts.

The service’s Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Robotic and Autonomous Systems and Defense Innovation Unit selected BeeX, BlackSea Technologies and Vatn Systems after they successfully completed the Mine Countermeasure Modernization Prize Challenge, according to a recent release.

“Through the partnership with DIU, in less than four months we were able to quickly move from open call to on-water testing, to contracting options and initial operational planning,” George Saroch, DRPM RAS program manager for mine warfare, said in the announcement.

DIU launched the competition on May 29, offering $200,000 to companies selected to participate and up to $3 million to the winning company.

Out of 80 applicants, only 11 companies were chosen to compete.

The competition asked companies to tackle near-surface mine neutralization, bottom mine detection and bottom mine neutralization.

Those that were awarded the prize proved that their technology was capable of locating, identifying and destroying underwater mine threats, the Navy said.

The Navy has faced mine warfare during the Iran war, with Iran placing sea mines along the Strait of Hormuz.

The suite of options the service has to address the threat, however, remains limited.

Four Avenger-class minesweepers were decommissioned in 2025 before the war, leaving only four left in the fleet, all of which are stationed in Sasebo, Japan.

The Navy also has three Independence-class littoral combat ships, previously stationed in Bahrain, that each come equipped with a mine countermeasures mission package that employs a combination of helicopters, sonar, acoustic and electromagnetic generators and autonomous vessels to minesweep and minehunt.

But several retired U.S. Navy captains who deployed on minesweepers told Military Times in March that those ships were not as effective as the minesweepers due to technological issues.

The Pentagon’s weapons testing office DOT&E found that pieces of the mine countermeasures technology on the LCS with the MCM package were “not operationally suitable” and could “not support sustained mine sweeping operations.”

The service surpassed its fiscal 2026 enlistment goal by adding 45, 112 new sailors, after hitting its initial goal of 45,000 sailors three months ahead of schedule in July.

“Americans are choosing to join our Navy because they want to be part of a warrior culture, serve alongside teammates who share that ethos, and take on the extraordinary combat missions our Navy is executing around the world today,” said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle. “Surpassing this accession mission is therefore more than a recruiting milestone — it is a direct injection of readiness into the fleet.”

The service has now reached its accession target three years in a row, after falling short by 7,450 sailors in 2023 when it recruited 37,700.

The service made an about-face in fiscal 2024, surpassing its accession target of 40,600 recruits by 378.

It continued its success in fiscal 2025, when the sea service brought in 44,096 future sailors, exceeding its target of 40,600 and marking the most recruits the Navy had seen since 2002.

The Navy said it notched its goal three years in a row by empowering recruiters, streamlining the application process, updating technology and leaning into data-driven decisions.

The service has also reduced the administrative strain on recruiters by providing them with new technology that allows them to spend more time with potential recruits and their families.

As the service looks to the future, the Navy has 13,508 new sailors in the Delayed Entry Program set to begin training in fiscal 2027.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said in a C-NOte that the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command will henceforth be known as Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, to more accurately indicate the capabilities of the command.

“The name Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces better reflects the command’s core responsibility to man, train, equip, certify, and generate expeditionary Sailors and units for employment by operational commanders worldwide,” the message said.

The command will continue to oversee explosive ordnance disposal, maritime expeditionary security, naval construction and expeditionary logistics forces.

Daily operations for the command’s expeditionary units will also be unaffected.

The name change reflects the command’s increased relevance as the service continues to invest in autonomous systems and their ability to be deployed from expeditionary locations, Caudle said.

The command will continue to help the Navy expand its subsea warfare capabilities so that developing technology will soon be able to be deployed fleet-wide.

Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces will be leveraged to upgrade standards, training, certification, assessment and oversight in order to regularly provide security forces to installations, ports and ships, Caudle said.

The service awarded contracts to Galliano Marine Services, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Saronic Technologies after the three companies completed phase one of at-sea testing for its Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel Family of Systems program.

Sea Machines, Leidos, PacMar Technologies and Birdon also completed at-sea testing and competed for a contract but ultimately lost the bid to produce vessels for the Navy.

“Each agreement includes the procurement of 10 MUSVs, at an average procurement cost of $40 million per vessel,” the Navy said. “The first MUSVs are scheduled to be delivered to the Navy prior to the end of fiscal year 2027.”

Though they didn’t make the final cut, Sea Machines, Leidos and PacMar Technologies were awarded $15 million for completing at-sea testing and will now be hosted on the Defense Department’s drone marketplace, where they are eligible to receive other contracts.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao praised the contract awards as a sign that the Navy was prioritizing moving quickly to modernize its fleet.

Phase one at-sea testing evaluated MUSV’s ability to understand a maritime environment, maneuver unassisted by an operator and deploy at sea for long intervals.

The service announced the start of MUSV phase two testing on Sept. 23 to continue the procurement of autonomous systems.

The Navy is currently attempting to expand its unmanned surface vessel fleet from four to 30 vessels by 2030 in the Indo-Pacific.

The service announced a MUSV marketplace in March, which replaced the Modular Attack Surface Craft program.

Several companies were already competing for a contract for that program when it was shut down in favor of the marketplace.

Blue Water Autonomy and Saildrone, which initially participated in the MASC program but were not chosen to continue participating in the MUSV program, sued the Navy after alleging they were excluded unfairly.

The March marketplace solicitation asked for MUSVs capable of traveling 2,500 nautical miles at 25 knots while carrying a 25-ton load on the payload deck in moderate conditions.

The Navy’s push to accelerate autonomous systems research, development and solicitation follows a June report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office that said the Navy needed to quickly reimagine the way it invested in robotic systems to address the fleet’s urgent needs.

Rebecca J. Gassler, who previously spearheaded the Navy’s robotic and autonomous systems program, was fired on Aug. 5 after serving only 8 months.

Christopher Miller took over for Gassler and assumed duties as acting Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Robotic and Autonomous Systems, a role created on the same day Gassler was removed.

Miller, speaking at a media roundtable on Tuesday, said phase two testing will apply laxer requirements than phase one.

“Obviously with phase one, there were some more challenging requirements that they had to meet and so I’m trying to back off of those so that I can have a healthy competitive industrial base,” Miller said.

Specifically, phase two doesn’t set a high speed requirement for MUSVs and it doesn’t require refueling at sea, Miller said.

A mishap involving two pilots and six sailors occurred aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower on Monday, the Navy announced.

Naval aviators piloting an E/A-18G Growler from Electronic Attack Squadron 130 were attempting to land on the ship off the coast of Virginia at 6:18 p.m. but were forced to eject from the aircraft following an arresting gear failure.

Search and rescue personnel from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 7 safely recovered them and returned them to the ship.

“The cause of the mishap is under investigation,” the Navy said. “Updates will be provided as additional information becomes available.”

Six shipboard personnel were also injured during the incident and received medical attention.

One sailor was medically evacuated from the ship to receive further treatment for non-life-threatening injuries at a Norfolk, Virginia, facility.

The two aviators and two sailors injured on the flight deck were flown to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth for further medical evaluation as well.

The Eisenhower most recently returned July 15, 2024, from a nine-month deployment, during which it battled Iran-backed Houthi rebels along the Red Sea.

The ship completed sea trials in April as part of its planned incremental availability and is currently conducting carrier qualifications in the Atlantic.

The Defense Casualty Analysis System updated its “Overseas Operations” category, which tracks injuries and deaths for troops involved in Middle East operations.

In its updated accounting method, the Pentagon moved deaths that were previously listed under the “Operation Epic Fury” category into the “Overseas Operations” umbrella.

The reclassification aligned with the Pentagon’s stance that Operation Epic Fury ended May 5.

“Since Operation Epic Fury concluded, the department classifies casualties as having occurred in Overseas Operations in the [U.S. Central Command] area of responsibility,” a defense official told Military Times.

The Trump administration has maintained that current U.S. military operations in the Middle East are not a continuation of Operation Epic Fury, which began on Feb. 28 when the U.S. launched coordinated military strikes with Israel against Iran.

Since the Iran war began, 19 U.S. service members have died with 418 injured. Five service members have died since Operation Epic Fury concluded.

Since May 5, 443 service members have been wounded in action while military operations in the Middle East have continued.

The Defense Casualty Analysis System is run by the Defense Manpower Data Center, which relies on military-provided data to report injured and fallen service members.

The Navy declined to provide more specifics about the circumstances surrounding this month’s uptick in sailors and Marines wounded in action.

“Due to standard verification protocols, updates to the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) have registered a recent statistical increase in Navy casualties,” a Navy official told Military Times. “The Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) and Navy Casualty officials have fully validated reports to ensure accurate service records.”

NBC News, citing three U.S. officials, reported that eight of the nine Marines were injured after an Iranian cruise missile attacked the ship they were operating on in the Strait of Hormuz. The Marines, the outlet reported, suffered minor injuries, ranging from smoke inhalation to possible concussions.

All 29 sailors returned to active-duty status, the Navy official said.

The service established the Robot and Autonomous Systems Warfighting Development Center at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Virginia, ushering in a new era that will teach service members to be technically proficient while developing and fielding new combat-ready robotic systems.

“A prototype is not combat power,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said in a C-NOte message. “Combat power comes when a trained sailor can employ a reliable system, supported by the right networks, logistics, maintenance, software, tactics, authorities, and command relationships, to create an operational effect.”

The new center provides a place to work on autonomous system integration so that by the time sailors in the fleet get their hands on the technology, it is ready to be used.

RASWDC will first focus on training sailors at the center to understand the systems enough to employ them in combat, while developing a broader system for teaching that can be disseminated through the entire Navy to help service members learn the technology.

The center will help create warfighting concepts that delineate strict guidelines for how commanders build mission plans and set frameworks for autonomous systems to operate within. These guidelines become especially important when systems are forced to operate in combat environments where communication between robotic technology and the human in the loop is compromised.

RASWDC will also test emerging systems in environments that mimic those in which they will be deployed. Technology will be asked to perform at sea, under stress, against simulated threats and during degraded communication environments.

The systems that achieve their goal despite these obstacles will continue to be developed with the end goal of employing them on the battlefield, while others that fail will be retired.

Caudle defined the intended cycle as field, employ, learn, improve and scale.

Caudle released another C-NOte on Sept. 2, calling for the swift integration of lasers and their offensive capabilities into the fleet.

“The question is no longer whether these systems work — it is how quickly we can field them across the fleet and place them in the hands of sailors,” Caudle said.

On Tuesday, the Navy demonstrated a new information-sharing capability that allows it to streamline communication between operators and autonomous aircraft.