The USS Abraham Lincoln is finally heading home after one of the longest deployments in the Navy’s history that lasted for more than 300 days, according to the NBC News. The aircraft carrier spent 286 days without a port call before docking in Thailand for a couple of days and is set to dock in San Diego with about 7,500 personnel on board. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke to service members aboard the carrier and acknowledged that the deployment had not been easy. He also took responsibility for extending the mission, telling the crew that he was the one who signed the orders to keep them at sea twice. I was the “only thing standing between you and home,” he said. The Lincoln left San Diego in November 2025 and was originally expected to return before the summer. But after the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran in February, the carrier was redirected to the Middle East to support American operations there. The sailors are excited to return home. Hegseth honors the crew As per The Guardian, Hegseth said that the carrier’s crew “did what no other carrier strike group has ever done.” And added that, “We asked you to do more, and you know what you did? You did more.” He also acknowledged that resupplying the carrier had not been easy during the deployment. USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) returns home to California today after a historic deployment to the Middle East. Over 5,000 Sailors and Marines supported thousands of combat flights and sailed more than 90,000 miles. Congratulations on the well-deserved reunion with loved ones! pic.twitter.com/hVx0cxCkOm— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) October 8, 2026 The Defense Secretary announced that the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group would receive the Presidential Unit Citation. The military award is reserved for those armed who display “extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy.” ABC News reported that it obtained a letter sent to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand by the Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Hung Cao. It said that at least eight service members from the Lincoln and its strike group attempted suicide. However, no deaths on the ship have been attributed to suicide. “Since the beginning of Lincoln’s deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the strike group — this number includes the Lincoln crew and sailors from the carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers, and all embarked aviation squadrons,” Cao wrote in response to questions from Gillibrand about the health and well-being of the personnel aboard the fleet. Suicide attempts among the Navy fleet are not a new phenomenon. In 2024, there were 356 suicide attempts in the Navy, as shown in the data released by the Defense Suicide Prevention Office.