For the roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, the war with Iran has meant something more than combat operations in distant waters. It has also meant months of living inside a floating military city with little opportunity to step ashore, while the ship continues to operate at a wartime tempo.
The aircraft carrier has now spent more than 250 days deployed and about 200 consecutive days without a port call, according to Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who has pressed the Pentagon over reports of worsening living conditions and mental-health concerns aboard the ship.
