Hegseth says Lincoln strike group set record with 10,000 sorties

In Oct. 7 X posts, Hegseth called Lincoln sailors ‘the 1%’

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who boarded the carrier Wednesday to recognize and honor its roughly 5,000 crew, said the USS Abraham Lincoln’s strike group produced a combat record no other carrier strike group has matched. “What the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group did no other carrier strike group has ever done: 10,000 sorties, 23,000 combat flight hours, almost 4,000 combat sorties, 1.5 million pounds of ordnance dropped on the enemy — and let me tell you, you did it without an aircraft mishap. I honestly have no idea how that’s possible,” he said during a ceremony on the carrier.

Hegseth also posted three messages on X on Oct. 7, welcoming the Lincoln’s sailors home from his account, which uses the handle @SecWar and lists the title “Secretary of War.” “Today, we welcomed home the sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln from their historic deployment,” he wrote, adding: “These sailors did extraordinary things on behalf of this nation” and “They are the 1%.”

The carrier is expected to make port in San Diego on Thursday, ending its nearly 11-month deployment. The vessel deployed Nov. 21 and was later redirected to the Middle East amid growing tensions with Iran, tensions that devolved into war in February, a conflict the USS Abraham Lincoln participated in. Hegseth extended its deployment twice, but the Pentagon came under criticism following late-summer reporting of subpar conditions aboard the vessel and suicide attempts.

President Donald Trump called such reports “fake news” and, when asked about the length of the deployment, said it was “not nearly long enough.” Amid the mounting criticism, the Nimitz-class carrier made port in Thailand, its first in 264 days. It departed Thailand on Sept. 7 for home.

Late last month, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao admitted that eight personnel serving in the strike group attempted suicide.

Hegseth also blamed the media for the criticism, claiming the news organizations attempted to make the carrier “a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission.”

“Instead, what makes the U.S. military and the U.S. Navy and all these sailors different is that you adapt and that you’re resilient and you overcome. You finish the mission nonetheless,” he said.

“Yes, it’s hard. That’s why you’re here — to do difficult, hard things. But you believe in your heart in that mission.”

In response to Hegseth’s speech and visit of the carrier, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Md., accused the defense secretary, a former Fox News host, of using the sailors for publicity. “Pete Hegseth dismissed the USS Lincoln crew’s suffering and disrespected their service,” she said online. “Our service members deserve better than a photo op. They deserve real accountability for this administration’s failures.”

The Lincoln’s deployment was the second-longest by a U.S. aircraft carrier since the Cold War, five days shorter than the 326-day deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, which ended in May. However, the Lincoln’s record 264 consecutive days at sea without a port call eclipsed the previous 206-day record set by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2020.