Hegseth visits the long-deployed USS Lincoln to bestow a top award before the ship returns home

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has given the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln a high-level award during a visit to the aircraft carrier Wednesday, a day before the ship returns home to San Diego after a record-long deployment in support of the Iran war .

The Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor a unit can receive that is typically reserved for significant achievement in combat, was bestowed upon the Lincoln and accompanying ships for “40 days of combat operations and an ironclad maritime blockade against Iran in support of Operation Epic Fury,” Hegseth said, referring to the Trump administration’s code name for the Iran war.

The carrier endured a record 265 uninterrupted days at sea, and its extended deployment drew national attention following reports of crew stress and poor mental health, as well as supply shortages, including food and hygiene products. After more than 10 months deployed, the Lincoln's crew got a stop in Thailand early last month on the way back from the Middle East.

Hegseth, who flew out to the ship before its arrival Thursday in San Diego, acknowledged to the crew that “I’m the only thing standing between you and home” and that his intention was “once they pull up to the dock, we’re getting out of the way.”

Long deployments can tax service members who are away from their families for extended periods while facing threats, and can add wear to the aircraft carriers, which have been used for President Donald Trump's military operations in the Middle East and South America.

The Lincoln is the second carrier that has endured an unusually long and arduous deployment to support the war against Iran and the second to receive the top unit award afterward.

Hegseth in May met the crew of the USS Gerald R. Ford during its return from a 326-day deployment — the longest for an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years and a record in the post-Vietnam War era.

As for the Lincoln, it departed San Diego in late November, arrived in the Middle East in January and now will be back in its home port.

Hegseth said Wednesday that Trump “tracked your activities from day one and couldn’t be more proud of what you executed.”

The Navy initially played down early reports of supply problems on Lincoln and Trump said its lengthy deployment was “not nearly long enough,” Navy leaders, however, eventually acknowledged there were some issues aboard.

In August, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said the Lincoln maintained adequate food supplies, but because combat operations limited resupply opportunities, meal options were reduced from two to one for a short time. He said in a letter to a Democratic lawmaker seeking information that four nutritionally balanced meals were served daily.

Navy officials also said that while combat operations led to delays in scheduled resupply shipments, they prioritized the delivery of hygiene products and established a rotation to streamline distribution to different squadrons.

More recently, the service told lawmakers that eight sailors attempted suicide while on the long deployment. Experts say that number is low in a strike group of 6,000 sailors over 10 months.

Hegseth pushed back against what he said were efforts to turn the “Lincoln into some sort of a symbol, a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission.”

He said that “what makes the U.S. military and the U.S. Navy and all these sailors different is that you adapt and that you’re resilient and you overcome — you finish the mission nonetheless.”

According to the award that Hegseth read to the crew, the Lincoln and the strike group executed 3,693 combat missions, delivered 1.37 million pounds of ordnance, launched 450 Tomahawk cruise missiles, shot down 77 one-way attack drones, sank 64 Iranian warships, destroyed 21 anti-ship cruise missiles and defended against four fast attack craft and explosive-carrying ships.

There are now two aircraft carriers assigned to the Middle East. The USS George Washington , though usually based in Asia, relieved the Lincoln in August.

The other aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, has been deployed for about six months, but it pulled into Phuket, Thailand, for a port visit several days ago.

U.S. officials have said a third aircraft carrier , the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and thousands of troops aboard it and accompanying ships could join the Washington and the Bush as early as the end of October.