I saw a recent post claiming that Iranian intelligence intercepted a message that seven sailors had been killed in a brawl aboard Lincoln.
Unlikely. Wrong ship. My guess is there really was a brawl it probably happened on a Carnival Cruise liner when a it broke out at the buffet over a chicken bone on one of their four day cruises.
A flight deck on a modern aircraft carrier is one of the most hazardous environments on earth during flight operations. There are injuries and sometimes deaths on routine carrier cruises.
With over 5000 souls on board it is astonishing that casualties are that light and it speaks highly for the Navy's safety programs. Still, things happen. People get hurt and even killed.
As usual there are problems to deal with when you cram 5000 people on board a boat. Many of these are young people that had never seen a ship before they boarded a flattop. Others are old salts.
While uncommon, suicides are not unheard of. While every single one is a tragedy, it happens. It happens ashore and in civilian life, too on a daily basis. It makes sense that it would happen at sea.
While uncommon, people crack. I saw a man crack during Army basic training once. It wasn't a pretty sight. I was close enough so that when the Drill Sergeant took the man's rifle from him he handed it to me. Later a drill Sergeant took if from me, acknowledging me with a nod.
Great Lakes generally weeds the non-hackers out but an occasional grain slips through the cracks.
On practically every deployment some or lamebrain two falls over the side but is quickly rescued. Occasionally one isn't able to be saved. These things happen.
The Navy puts a priority on replenishing supplies on board vessels. On a carrier it generally runs 3 or 4 times a month. Fresh food is delivered as are parts and other supplies. People think the Navy is all about ships but it isn't. Over 340,000 people are assigned to supply and logistics and that doesn't include an awful lot of other people that are involved in making sure things (including food) get where they belong.
If something happens which does happen on occasion the galley crew breaks out the preserved goods just like I do when I'm either too busy, or lazy to go shopping. This morning I had hash for breakfast. Big deal. The Navy serves it once or twice a month if they are on their usual cycle. While not a fresh made to order omelet, it is a solid breakfast. Nobody goes hungry.
Some of the pictures I have seen palmed off as meals on Lincoln had cinder block walls in the background. While the Lincoln entered service in 1989, the Navy didn't use concrete blocks on carriers even back then. They still don't although some wag pointed out to me that the hollow spaces in concrete blocks can be used to store food.
Is the crew tickled pink to be there? Not hardly. Lack of port calls certainly hasn't helped. She had one in December, 2025 and another one in Oman on July, 2026. Still, the crew has something to keep them busy. The mission.
In the military dark humor reigns supreme. It's a safety outlet valve and most civilians don't understand much of it with the exception of police officers. It's one thing cops share with the military.
Is being extended on a tour funny? No it's certainly not but when people realize it has to be done, they do it. Most realize it has to be done and do it while exercising their God Given Right to Complain.
The sailors have reportedly named it 'Operation Forever' and someone even appears to have a 'morale patch' made up. While probably not the case, I would not be too surprised to find that the entire crew, captain on down has one and they may very well be worn while they are underway. While the captain and officers may/may not wear one underway, it's a pretty safe bet they have one to put away with their career souvenirs. As bitter as it sounds it is their private dark humored sarcastic joke.
Needless to say, the media found out about it and is using it for their political purposes. It's possible the military may very well actively forbid the patches, no thanks to the media and service life will become just a little more drab. Look what they did with the bathing beauties of nose art which is forbidden.
They've flown countless sorties and dropped an incredible amount of ordnance and done one hell of a job.
As for living conditions and reports of plugged up toilets? I'd be surprised it the heads didn't plug up from time to time and maybe even a few are pretty stopped up pretty good but most likely the truth is that most of them still work. I'd bet that they will find a sweater in the plumbing that was put there by a disgruntled sailor. After all, there are 5000 of them on board.
It sounds to me like things are/were not as bad as the media puts things because there's one figure that tells a different story.
Currently the USS Abraham Lincoln sports an 84.4% reenlistment rate. What does that tell you about morale? Demoralized sailors don't reup. You figure it out.
To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this:
http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY
