The US Navy has confirmed that eight service members assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group attempted suicide during its extended deployment, with no deaths attributed to suicide, according to a letter obtained by NBC News.
NBC News reports on Thursday that acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao disclosed the figure in the letter sent to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in response to questions about conditions and the mental health of personnel serving with the strike group.
“Since the beginning of Lincoln’s deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the strike group,” Cao wrote.
The figure includes members of the Lincoln’s crew, carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers and embarked aviation squadrons.
About 7,500 service members, mostly sailors, are part of the strike group.
The Navy official said two of the eight attempts involved sailors going overboard while the Lincoln was operating in the Middle East in support of the US war with Iran.
One sailor went overboard in August and was rescued by a search-and-rescue helicopter, while another attempted to go overboard in March but was stopped by fellow sailors, according to details reported from Cao’s response.
The Navy did not provide details of the other six suicide attempts.
The disclosure comes amid scrutiny of the unusually long deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln and concerns raised by relatives and lawmakers about conditions aboard the carrier, including food supplies and sailors’ mental health.
The Lincoln spent 286 days without a port call while supporting US military operations in the Middle East.
Its deployment, which began in November, had initially been scheduled to end in May but was extended after the war with Iran began in February.
The carrier eventually stopped in Thailand in early September before continuing its journey back to San Diego.
Gillibrand had previously raised concerns about conditions and medical resources aboard the Lincoln, describing the situation as “serious and deteriorating” in a statement.
The Navy has disputed some reports about deteriorating conditions and said sailors had access to medical and mental health support.
According to the Navy, the Lincoln has five chaplains, a clinical psychologist, a clinical social worker, behavioural health technicians and an integrated prevention coordination counsellor supporting its personnel.
The disclosure of the eight suicide attempts follows earlier reports of mental health concerns among sailors during the prolonged deployment.
