By Dr. Lyndon Haviland

September 9, 2026

TheHill.com

The USS Abraham Lincoln left San Diego last November for what was supposed to be a six-month deployment. Instead, the carrier went to sea for more than 250 days and was on pace for the second-longest deployment on record since the Vietnam War. …

The increasing frequency of these long missions raises a serious question: Is the U.S. government doing enough to support the brave men and women aboard these ships as they work tirelessly to protect America’s national security?  …

Lengthy deployments are sometimes unavoidable. Military operations are fluid, and situations arise that often require soldiers to persevere through difficult circumstances. But when they occur, America’s service members must have confidence that they will have access to essentials — food, water, hygiene products and functional plumbing — so that they can perform their duties to the best of their abilities.