from Ward Caroll:

Deep Intel on Carrier USS LINCOLN’s Morale Crisis

For years we’ve covered how U.S. Navy carrier strike group deployments have been steadily getting longer as a function of a decrease in the number of ships against a constant demand signal of operational commitments across the globe. We talked about this in detail in the retention episode we did a few weeks ago. Back in my day when we had 15 carrier strike groups the normal deployment length was six months. Two decades later we’re down to 11 carrier strike groups and the normal deployment length has grown to 9-11 months. Add an extended shooting war and in short order the fleet winds up facing challenges, some foreseen and some not. The 37-year-old Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) has become the poster child for the confluence of all of these factors, and families of the crew have gone public with their concerns about the sailors’ mental health, safety on deck, a lack of supplies, food shortages, water contamination and disruptions in the mail system, which have caused many care packages en route to the ship to be lost in transit for months. Lincoln’s quality of life issues first made the rounds last April when this image was posted to social media showing a mess tray with a thin slice of mystery meat, a lump of something kinda resembling refried beans, and carrots representing the typical meal on the carrier at that time.