New Delhi, Aug. 17 -- Nobody aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln was supposed to still be at sea in August.

standard for a Pacific Fleet carrier in a peacetime posture. Then the Iran war began in February 2026, the deployment was extended indefinitely, and by Sunday the Lincoln had been at sea for 266 days without a port call, the longest stretch any American carrier strike group has sustained in recent memory.

The visible cost arrived in recent weeks. Multiple sailors reportedly attempted to jump overboard. Congress members from both parties demanded answers from the Pentagon. Family members, holding back for months, went public, describing supply shortages, inadequate hygiene supplies, deteriorating food quality, and plumbing failures that...