Western Pacific Left Without American Aircraft Carrier as China Ramps Up Military Activity

The United States Navy is withdrawing the USS George Washington from the western Pacific to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East, temporarily leaving a critical region without an American aircraft carrier — just as China intensifies its military presence across the area.The Lincoln, whose original return date of May was extended to support operations against Iran, has faced mounting concerns over crew mental health and supply shortages during its prolonged deployment. The George Washington is expected to fill that gap, but its departure from the Pacific leaves a significant void at a moment of rising regional tensions.The situation could worsen if the USS Theodore Roosevelt is also dispatched from San Diego to the Middle East. While that move could eventually allow the George Washington to return to the Pacific, it would push the Navy to deploy four of its 11 carriers simultaneously — straining the fleet and increasing maintenance demands on vessels that already require substantial shipyard capacity.For Beijing, the timing is notable. China has recently stepped up military activity across the western Pacific, conducting naval exercises with Indonesia and staging drills near the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. A Chinese guided-missile destroyer also conducted a live-fire exercise near Japan’s southernmost island of Okinotori, raising alarm among U.S. allies, including Japan and the Philippines.The move comes after President Trump brushed aside mounting concerns about the Lincoln on Friday, even as accounts emerged of sailors attempting to jump overboard during a record-breaking deployment that has stretched to more than 260 days at sea.Asked by reporters on Friday at Joint Base Andrews whether family members were worried about conditions on the carrier, Mr. Trump flatly denied it. “No, they’re not,” he said. When pressed on whether the deployment had gone on too long, the president said, “No. Not nearly long enough.”Mr. Trump did confirm the ship was being relieved. “That ship is moving right now, or very shortly, and it’s being replaced with another very similar ship,” he said.At least one sailor went overboard on August 3, entering rough seas while wearing a life vest in what the Navy described as a mental health episode, according to the Navy Times. He was rescued within an hour by a search and rescue helicopter. The Navy Times also reported that the wife of a service member said her husband tried to jump overboard. Navy officials have denied a spike in suicide attempts on the ship.The Lincoln‘s roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines have been stationed in the Arabian Sea since January, diverted to support combat operations against Iran after originally deploying to the South China Sea in November. The ship was scheduled to return in May but has no publicly announced return date. The USS George Washington is now steaming toward the Middle East to relieve the Lincoln.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking to Newsmax on Thursday, claimed reports of dire conditions aboard the carrier had been “completely misrepresented.” He did not directly address specific accounts of food shortages, moldy showers, broken toilets, or water contamination.“We make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment,” Mr. Hegseth said. “Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody.”Democrats were unconvinced. Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona, an Iraq War veteran, accused Mr. Hegseth of lying outright. “I am in communication with a spouse who is forwarding me her husband’s text messages,” Mr. Gallego wrote on X. “Stop lying and fix the problem.”Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, a Marine Corps veteran, went further on CNN. “There’s nothing out of Mr. Hegseth’s mouth that can be considered credible,” Mr. Moulton said. “If this wasn’t a problem, they wouldn’t be rushing to replace the ship.”Congressman Mike Levin of California directed his remarks at the president himself. “Respectfully, Mr. President, I’d like to see you survive a week on that ship,” Mr. Levin wrote on X.United States Central Command pushed back on the reporting in a statement on X, calling multiple claims “FALSE” and insisting that “the Sailors and Marines of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group remain resilient and resolved. … The rampant misreporting on Abraham Lincoln’s historic deployment is a disservice to our men and women in uniform and their loved ones.”Families of service members, however, have continued to sound the alarm. More than 200 relatives met with the acting Navy secretary, Hung Cao, at San Diego last week, describing a ship’s doctor who warned the crew needed to reach port soon “or people are going to start losing their minds,” according to Mr. Levin.

Western Pacific Left Without American Aircraft Carrier as China Ramps Up Military Activity

Western Pacific Left Without American Aircraft Carrier as China Ramps Up Military Activity

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