USS Lincoln to dock in Thailand for ‘rest and recreation’ after sailors’ grueling deployment

USS Abraham Lincoln is set to dock in Thailand next week, giving sailors a chance for rest and recreation after reports of declining conditions and mental health issues onboard the ship. The air craft carrier departed the Middle East on Saturday. It has gone without a port visit for over 200 days, setting a record for consecutive days spent at sea.

Standard naval deployments usually last between six and nine months, though active conflicts can lead to extensions. Carrying roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines, the vessel will arrive in Thailand next week for "rest and recreation after their long sea journey,” a Thai official said on Tuesday. Thailand's Navy confirmed that a U.S.

Navy carrier strike group would make a brief stop in eastern Thailand for rest and recuperation, with no exercises taking place. Citing security concerns, it did not identify the three vessels or supply a date for the visit. "The stop is a routine port visit intended to allow personnel to rest and recuperate ... as well as to receive logistical support," a spokesperson for the Thai Navy said in a statement.

Embassy in Bangkok did not immediately reply to a request seeking comment. After leaving its home port of San Diego in November, the Lincoln was redirected to the Middle East to support U.S. military operations in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Two defense publications, Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, reported suicide attempts and falling morale on the carrier this month.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the reports "completely misrepresented" conditions on board. Thailand serves as the United States' sole treaty partner in mainland Southeast Asia, remaining a treaty ally since 1954 and a major non-NATO ally since 2003. Both nations' militaries preserve close relations.

Over the weekend, the immigrant father of a U.S. sailor on board the USS Abraham Lincoln was taken into federal immigration custody ‌and remains in detention. U.S. ⁠Border Patrol arrested Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, originally from Nicaragua, after stopping a car in Key West, Florida, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said on Sunday. "I've been deployed ⁠for over nine months, out at ​sea ⁠in the Middle East aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, fighting for a country that has given me everything," Joshua Aviles, the ⁠son of the detained immigrant, wrote on Facebook.