The phrase “at sea” connotes deep confusion, where someone or something is completely lost. The USS Abraham Lincoln is literally at sea, but many choosing to voice opinions about it are figuratively at sea, too. It seems that aircraft carrier has been deployed for 250+ days, and now tales of stress, poor rations, and unsanitary conditions have reached the home front, along with at least one attempted overboard. I say attempted, as I am not sure what the point of jumping off a ship is: is it successful if you just hit water, or it failed if they simply pluck you back up and put you in the brig?
Let’s start with those who leap from these conditions (more on that, you betcha’) to alleging the President is mismanaging the war with Iran. Now there is a briefcase load of evidence of mismanagement in this war, but this is hardly the piece of evidence you want to settle on before the court of public opinion. Let’s review the facts.
Accepting that the allegations about food and sanitation are true, why is this happening? The main US supply base for operations in the region is in Bahrain; it opened in 1995. Look at the map.
Why our most important supply base is so close to our biggest regional threat is, frankly, a question I would love to hear the CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) answer. There’s hubris, then there’s, well, this. The Iranians bombed and destroyed the base at the start of this phase of the war, but the Navy was smart enough to relocate the Headquarters and the sailors beforehand, so there were almost no casualties, but the facilities were lost. Meaning our resupply efforts have been ad hoc since. So there’s a good reason there might be supply problems. And our replacement depot is at Diego Garcia, a long way away. Funny thing, that: Iran fired two IRBMs (Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles) at Diego Garcia . . . you know, the missiles it claimed it didn’t have, like its nuclear program.
But why are the problems only on the Honest Abe? There have been two other carriers deployed, and numerous smaller ships. Seems like we should hear more than just one set of voices. Unless, of course, the issue is the command climate on the Abraham Lincoln. So question number two is: Why is this specific ship having the problems it is experiencing?
Now to the specific complaints. Here are social media (alleged) pics of the offending food:
Show me an army in the field (or a navy at sea), and I’ll show you a soldier griping about the chow. That doesn’t mean the gripes are illegitimate, but they better be pretty strong before you get excited about them (the gripes, that is). I was an Army officer in 1983 in West Germany, during the Able Archer period (for those unfamiliar, this was when the Russians became convinced Reagan was about to unleash a nuclear blitzkrieg). I was in the field for more than 200 days that year, mostly living in tents attached to the back of my tracked vehicle. We had a guaranteed hot breakfast, C-rations after that. As an officer, I ate last, and I often got a scoop of (cold) green scrambled eggs, a single strip of bacon., and unlimited (cold) toast. It is what it is. And that was just near wartime. Those plates don’t show me anything at all. As to that gray mystery meat on the right, it’s practically a right of passage in the military. If you don’t believe me, believe Chef from Apocalypse Now:
“It was turning gray!”
Now the complaint about sewage backing up is more serious. Ships are complex systems-of-systems, and a breakdown in something as fundamental as waste removal can indicate even more serious problems. But it still happens all the time, even on cruise lines that depend on providing total comfort to their passengers. Given the length of this deployment, systems failing is a probability, not a possibility.
What about that deployment length? 250+ days sounds impressive, and in some ways, it is. But the carrier that was first on the scene during the air war, the USS Gerald R. Ford, completed 326 days deployed, with no such problems. The Lincoln has had about 60 days of actual combat operations during that period, much less than the carriers that supported Operation Desert Storm. Now it’s not like the non-combat days are days-off. Any stray missile or drone can send the ship to General Quarters (or “man your battle stations” as they say in the movies). But the Lincoln is far out in the Indian Ocean, and true strikes against it are rare.
Lack of mail service? Unfortunate but not really surprising. How about the Navy wife who complained she can’t reach her sailor husband on the internet? Does this mean sailors have ready access to the internet at sea during combat operations, and why? It’s not a “small ship, big ocean” challenge to find a carrier if it’s broadcasting its location. I marveled at the Russian soldiers who live-streamed their deployments prior to the invasion of Ukraine. “How unprofessional!” I thought. Question three: should someone check what constitutes professionalism in today’s Navy, at least with respect to EMCON (Emissions Control)?
The chief gripe seems to be the total length of deployment, with all the stress of combat operations (however long), without a port call. All military leaders understand the necessity of giving the troops a break, whether it’s a three-day pass in the Army or shore-leave for a port call in the Navy. The Marines prefer to continue their sadomasochistic ways and refuse leave, while the Air Force isn’t sure how it is different from, say, everything else.
Now I want to say something truly contentious: there is nothing inherently stressful about being at sea board an aircraft carrier. I’ve toured a Nimitz class carrier (The USS John C. Stennis). There’s a separate Officer’s Mess. There’s a gymnasium. There’s a library, a hospital (and a dentist), a barber shop, a laundry, and a chapel. There’s rudimentary climate control (mostly for the computers, but if you keep the hatches closed, even in the bunks). There’s a multipurpose room which can show movies or host ping-pong tournaments. There’s unlimited power provided by a nuclear reactor. You can go outside and take deep breaths of the sea air. It will never be confused with even a bargain cruise ship, but it’s very different from a submarine, a tank, an aircraft, or even a spacecraft. They’re called floating cities for a reason. Their very purpose is to provide sustained aerial combat power in the absence of land bases. And they do that very well.
So yes, the war is being mismanaged. And maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln is too. But let’s keep our opinions within the bounds of reason, shall we? A good friend recently gifted me a copy of Bill Mauldin’s Up Front. For those too young to know, Mauldin drew comics about and for front line soldiers in World War II. He lived with them and captured their dark sense of humor, publishing his works in spite of many complaints from the brass (higher-up officers).
The conditions he witnessed are incomparably worse than those discussed here. I’m not arguing we should accept those conditions, just that our complaints say more about us than about anyone else. Or how we might use something to score political points.
If there is a deep rumbling beneath the soil near Oak Ridge Cemetary in Springfield, Illinois, it might just be ol’ Honest Abe turning in his grave.