Cooper Calls Mental Health Priority on USS Lincoln as 200-Day Deployment Fuels Burnout Reports
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 16
Cooper Calls Mental Health Priority on USS Lincoln as 200-Day Deployment Fuels Burnout Reports
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 16
Summary
Adm. Brad Cooper said mental health is a leadership priority after visiting USS Abraham Lincoln, while acknowledging the carrier’s extended combat deployment has been “uniquely challenging and tough.”
More than 200 days in a combat zone have strained the crew, with Senate Democrats citing shortages, water and sewage problems, deteriorating morale and reported attempted suicides.
Cooper argued many complaints about food, hot water and morale were raised months ago and already addressed, adding Lincoln has among the lowest mental-health case counts across the Navy’s 11 carriers.
USS Lincoln is expected to return home soon in a planned rotation, with USS George Washington set to replace it; former Joint Chiefs chair Mike Mullen said news of the return had lifted morale.