USS Washington heads to Middle East, emptying Pacific
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- USS George Washington departed Da Nang, Vietnam, Saturday bound for the Middle East, where it is expected to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln in the US-Israeli war against Iran.
- USS Abraham Lincoln has been deployed for more than 266 days without a port stop with roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard, a Navy record, with reports of sailors attempting to jump overboard, dwindling hygiene supplies, plumbing failures, and mental health strain.
- Trump downplayed the situation Friday, saying the deployment length was "not nearly enough"; Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said conditions had been "completely misrepresented," while acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao acknowledged "a small number of mental health cases were treated with no loss of life" and meal adjustments when fresh resupply was unavailable.
- USS Lincoln's deployment was originally scheduled to end in May but was extended indefinitely after the US and Israel launched their war against Iran in February, and analysts note Iranian attacks on regional US assets — including a Navy base in Bahrain — have complicated typical resupply and maintenance.
- USS Washington's departure from the western Pacific leaves no US aircraft carrier in the region, where former submariner Bryan Clark of the Hudson Institute warned Beijing may use the gap to signal to the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia that "the US is not the big dog in the western Pacific any more."
- The war with Iran has reportedly depleted US offensive and defensive weapons stockpiles, fueling concerns that deterrence against a military peer like China — with advanced technology and a sprawling air force — is eroding.
- Several US senators have called for more information about the conditions on board the Lincoln; the Pentagon has not confirmed the carrier swap, citing a policy of not commenting on movements of key military assets.
Why it matters: The Lincoln's record 266-day deployment reflects a US military stretched across simultaneous Iran and Pacific theaters, with analysts warning that the carrier gap in the western Pacific could embolden Beijing to test US commitments to allies like the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia at a moment when weapons stockpiles are already depleted.
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