Navy Reports Eight Suicide Attempts in Lincoln Strike Group

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao told Senator Kirsten Gillibrand that eight sailors assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group attempted suicide during its deployment, while no service members died by suicide, according to a letter dated September 22. The reported total covers personnel across the strike group, not only the carrier. Cao’s letter included sailors serving with the carrier’s crew and air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers, and embarked aviation squadrons. The deployment included combat operations against Iran. The disclosure does not establish that the operations or the length of the deployment caused the attempts, and the letter does not give dates or circumstances for all eight cases. Cao also described two incidents involving attempts to go overboard. He said an air-wing sailor went overboard in early August, was recovered and received medical treatment. In March, another sailor’s attempt to go overboard was stopped by shipmates, and the sailor received medical care. The Navy’s reported total includes suicide attempts; the letter said there were no suicide deaths during the deployment.