작전템포 한계에 다다르고 있는 미해군

[위종민]

장시간 이어지고 있는 작전으로 한계에 다다르고 있는 미해군 전투함들과 전투원들에 대한 기사입니다. 

미 해군은 수년간 작전 템포 문제와 싸워왔다. 이란 전쟁이 그 결함을 드러냈다. 

Riley Ceder, Natalie Oliverio

2026년 8월 21일 금요일

F/A-18E 슈퍼 호넷이 2026년 8월 12일 니미츠급 항공모함 USS 에이브러햄 링컨의 비행갑판에서 이륙하고 있다. (U.S. Navy)

미국의 이란 군사행동 과정에서 모호한 작전 계획과 투명성 부족으로 미 해군이 오랫동안 겪어온 군수, 정비, 인력 문제가 더욱 악화됐으며, 그 여파를 수병들이 체감하고 있다고 의회 지도자들과 퇴역 군 관계자들, 현재 배치 중인 수병들이 Military Times에 밝혔다.

USS 에이브러햄 링컨에서 복무하는 일부 미군 장병들이 250일 동안 기항하지 못한 뒤 정신건강 문제를 겪고 있다는 가족들의 폭로가 나온 후, 수병과 퇴역자, 의원들은 현재의 분쟁으로 더욱 악화된 해군의 오랜 문제들이 초래한 결과를 장병들이 떠안고 있다고 Military Times에 말했다.

이들은 해군이 수년간 높은 작전 템포의 요구를 충족하는 데 어려움을 겪어왔다고 말했다. 배치는 정기적으로 연장되고 예정된 정비는 이뤄지지 않으며, 함정 건조 속도는 여전히 매우 느려 인도가 지연되고 함대 규모도 필요한 수준에 미치지 못하고 있다.

관계자들은 이런 문제들이 여러 대통령 행정부에 걸쳐 이어져 왔지만 이란 전쟁과 그에 뒤이은 군사작전의 처리 방식으로 인해 더욱 심화돼 일부 수병들이 심각한 상황에 놓이게 됐다고 말했다.

지도부는 링컨함의 여건이 악화되고 있다는 묘사에 이의를 제기했으며, 생활 여건에 대한 우려를 다룬 보도를 부인했다.

최근 기자들이 가족들이 제기한 배치 기간에 대한 우려를 묻자 도널드 트럼프 대통령은 “충분히 길지도 않다”며 질문을 일축했다.

같은 우려에 대해 질문받은 해군참모총장 대릴 코드 제독은 Military Times에 “수병 우선은 구호가 아니다. 그것은 전투 수행을 위한 필수 조건이다”라고 말했다.

코드는 “중동에서 지속되는 작전 속도는 수병들을 돌보는 것과 전투 준비태세를 유지하는 것이 서로 분리될 수 없다는 점을 더욱 분명하게 보여줬다”고 말했다.

‘더 많은 함정이 필요하다’

링컨함의 여건을 둘러싼 비판이 커진 뒤 해군은 니미츠급 항공모함 USS 조지 워싱턴을 인도·태평양에서 중동으로 이동시켰고, 이 항공모함은 수요일 현지에 도착했다. 이 함정은 링컨함을 교대하는 것으로 알려졌으며, 링컨함은 이제 모항인 샌디에이고를 향해 항해할 예정이다.

이 조치로 서태평양에는 일시적으로 미국 항공모함이 배치되지 않게 된다. 항공모함의 존재는 남중국해에서 중국을 억제하고 역내 동맹국들을 안심시키려는 미군의 노력에서 핵심적인 부분이다. 

수병들이 2026년 8월 13일 싱가포르 해협을 통과하는 니미츠급 항공모함 USS 조지 워싱턴의 함교에서 당직을 서고 있다. (MCS2 Wadelon G. Presley/U.S. Navy)

한편 작전 템포에 대한 우려는 해군에 새로운 일이 아니라고 2012년부터 2015년까지 미 제5함대와 미 중부사령부 사령관을 지낸 퇴역 해군 중장 포지 밀러는 말했다.

밀러는 1979년 해군에 입대했다. 그는 제복을 입기 시작한 초기부터 해군의 목표는 개별 수병에게 지나치게 가혹하지도 않고 임무 성공에 필수적인 장비에 지나치게 부담을 주지도 않는 수준에서 작전을 수행하는 것이었다고 말했다. 그 균형을 유지하려면 충분한 수의 군함이 필수적이었다.

밀러는 “항공모함을 더 많이 확보하거나 [작전] 템포를 낮출 수 있다”고 말했다. “둘 중 하나다. 하지만 우리는 세계적 책임을 지는 세계적 해군이고, 그 책임을 다하려면 더 많은 함정이 필요하다.”

해군 획득 프로그램을 이끌고 이후 해군해양체계사령부 사령관이 된 토머스 무어 소장은 2013년 의회에서 해군은 “항공모함 15척이 필요한 세계에서 11척으로 운영되는 해군”이라고 말했다.

그는 이러한 수요가 줄어들 가능성은 낮다고 말했다.

무어가 그렇게 말한 지 13년이 지난 지금도 해군의 항공모함은 11척이다. USS 니미츠가 내년 말 퇴역할 예정인 만큼 그 수는 곧 10척으로 줄어들 수도 있다.

USS 해리 S. 트루먼과 USS 제럴드 R. 포드는 현재 배치를 마친 뒤 정비를 위해 작전에서 빠져 있다. 제럴드 R. 포드는 중동 작전을 지원하기 위해 배치가 연장된 뒤 5월에 베트남전 이후 최장 기록인 326일의 해상 작전 일수를 기록했다. 니미츠급 USS 존 C. 스테니스는 수년에 걸친 대규모 정비를 받고 있다.

역시 니미츠급인 USS 로널드 레이건은 17개월간의 수리 기간을 거친 뒤 8월 말까지 배치 가능한 상태가 될 것으로 예상된다. 니미츠급 USS 조지 H.W. 부시는 중동에 있다.

20년간 복무한 뒤 퇴역한 해군 수상전 장교 스티븐 윌스는 “현재 이 순환 체계에서는 우리가 하고 싶어 하는 모든 일을 지속할 만큼 충분한 항공모함이 없다”며 “이것은 오래된 문제라고 생각한다”고 말했다.

해군은 2014년 정비, 훈련, 평가와 한 차례의 8개월 배치를 36개월 주기에 배치하는 ‘최적화 함대 대응계획’, 즉 OFRP 배치 모델을 시행하기 시작했다.

해군은 이 체계가 배치 일정에 대한 수병과 가족들의 예측 가능성을 높이면서 보다 충실하게 인력을 배치하고 훈련된 전력을 만들어내기 위한 것이라고 설명한다.

그러나 2016년 미 회계감사원(GAO)은 과도한 작전 수요로 인해 해군이 함정의 배치 기간을 늘리고 정비를 줄이거나 연기했다고 밝혔다.

그러한 결정은 배치 일정의 예측 가능성을 떨어뜨리고 훈련 시간을 잠식했으며, 함정 상태 악화에 기여하고 꼭 필요한 정비에 소요되는 시간을 늘렸다.

2014회계연도부터 2019회계연도까지 해군 함정들은 당초 예정된 기간보다 3만3,700일 이상을 추가로 정비에 소요했고, 이로 인해 훈련이나 작전에 투입할 수 있는 함정이 줄어들었다.

뒤엎어진 보급망

해군이 오랫동안 항공모함 가용성 문제에 시달려온 가운데, 의원들과 이란 전쟁 지원 임무에 배치됐던 한 수병에 따르면 현재 미국 지도부는 부실한 계획과 불충분한 전시 지원으로 작전 템포 문제를 더욱 키웠다.

보복을 우려해 익명을 조건으로 인터뷰한 인디펜던스급 연안전투함 복무 수병은 “그곳에 있는 내내 군수는 완전히 실패했다. 식량, 보급품, 부품 모두 그랬다”고 말했다.

지난 2월 이란의 공격으로 바레인에 있던 해군의 오랜 군수 허브가 피해를 입으면서 중동에서 작전 중인 함정들을 지원하던 역내 보급망이 차질을 빚었다.

이란이 바레인 마나마에 있는 미 해군 제5함대 본부에 미사일 공격을 가한 뒤 연기가 피어오르고 있다. (Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)

해군은 새로운 군수 허브를 인도양의 환초인 디에고 가르시아 해군지원시설로 옮겼다. 이곳은 중동에서 작전하는 해군 항공모함 타격단으로부터 2,000마일 이상 떨어져 있다.

이 수병은 디에고 가르시아까지의 거리가 문제가 됐다며, 이 허브를 이용하려면 연안전투함이 30일 전에 식량을 주문해야 했다고 말했다.

그러나 부실한 계획으로 입항 일정까지 악화되면서 그런 주문은 거의 불가능했다고 수병은 덧붙였다. 수병들은 군수 허브에서 보급을 받지 못했고, 대신 해상 보급 유조함에서 구할 수 있는 것을 닥치는 대로 확보해야 했다.

이 수병은 “우리가 전쟁 중인데도 식량 주문을 신속하게 처리할 수 없는 데에는 아무런 변명의 여지가 없다”고 말했다.

캘리포니아주 민주당 소속 마이크 레빈 하원의원은 수병이 설명한 군수 문제는 준비 실패 때문이라고 Military Times에 말했다.

레빈은 “나는 배치됐던 많은 사람들과 이야기를 나눴는데, 기본적인 문제는 바레인을 재보급 거점으로 활용하고 식량을 확보하며 휴식도 제공하고 그런 모든 일을 하려고 했다면, 그게 계획이었다면 분명히 제대로 되지 않았다는 것 같다”고 말했다. “2월, 3월 이후에는 [행정부가] 그 점을 생각했어야 했다.”

‘사람도 망가질 수 있다’

링컨함 수병들의 가족들은 앞서 Military Times에 USS 에이브러햄 링컨에서 최소 2명의 수병이 바다로 뛰어내리려 했다고 말했다.

각 사건 당시 개인들의 구체적인 정신 상태는 알려지지 않았지만, 현재 분쟁 중 항공모함을 타고 중동에 배치됐던 한 수병에 따르면 전투작전의 숨 가쁜 작전 템포는 필연적으로 장병들에게 자연스러운 부담을 준다.

지도부의 보복을 우려해 익명을 조건으로 인터뷰한 이 장병은 “기계와 마찬가지로 사람도 망가질 수 있다”며 “사람에게는 휴식이 필요하다”고 말했다.

쉴 시간이 항상 주어지는 것은 아니었다. 안전을 확보하려면 때로는 잠을 포기해야 했다.

장비가 고장 나면 수병들은 때때로 수리가 끝날 때까지 정상적인 근무시간을 훨씬 넘겨 일했다. 어떤 경우에는 임무를 완수하느냐가 생사를 가를 수도 있었다.

2021년 조사에서 GAO는 최근 배치 기간 동안 매일 밤 최소 7시간을 잤다고 응답한 해군 장교가 조사 대상의 14%에 불과했으며, 67%는 5시간 이하로 잤다고 밝혔다. GAO는 또한 해군이 함정을 안전하게 운용하기 위해 필요하다고 업무량 분석에서 산정한 인원보다 적은 수의 수병을 함정에 상시 배치하고 있다는 사실도 확인했다.

2023년이 되자 수상함대 수병들의 수면시간은 24시간당 평균 5.25시간으로, 최소 7.5시간의 수면 기회를 제공한다는 해군 기준보다 낮았다. GAO는 승조원 부족과 침상 문제가 피로 관리의 어려움이라고 지적했다.

한 수병이 2026년 8월 11일 니미츠급 항공모함 USS 에이브러햄 링컨의 격납고에서 항공기 부품을 작업하고 있다. (U.S. Navy)

해군 역시 이 문제를 해결하기 위한 조치를 시행해왔다. 여기에는 항해 중 약 1,600명의 수병에게 오우라 링을 착용하게 해 수면과 기타 생체지표를 모니터링하는 연구를 시작한 것도 포함된다.

하지만 관계자들에 따르면 수면 부족은 이란과의 분쟁 기간에 겪은 여러 문제 가운데 하나에 불과했다. 이 수병은 항공모함에서 장병들이 식량 부족까지 겪었으며 음식의 질도 형편없는 수준과 끔찍한 수준 사이를 오갔다고 말했다.

이 수병은 “덜 익었거나, 너무 익었거나, 아니면 아예 무엇인지 알아볼 수도 없었다”고 말했다.

배치 연장이 거듭되면서 전화센터나 식당에서 나누는 대화에는 사기 저하를 쉽게 알아볼 수 있는 분위기가 드러나기 시작했다. 유머는 평소보다도 더 어두워졌고, 기항의 의미도 갈수록 줄어들었다.

최근 배치 이전에 USS 에이브러햄 링컨에서 근무했던 원자로 운전원 파커 무어는 “이런 일들은 언제나 배치 중에 있어왔다”며 “나쁘긴 하지만, 항상 나빴다”고 말했다.

무어가 링컨함에서 근무하던 당시 정신건강 문제를 둘러싼 낙인은 여전히 만연해 있었다. 함정에는 정신건강 전문가들이 있었지만 수병이 도움을 구하면 해당 장병은 자신의 보직에서 제외될 수도 있었다.

무어는 “그들은 주변 사람들을 실망시키는 것을 두려워한다”며 “내가 내 일을 하지 않으면 그 일을 할 수 있는 사람은 30명뿐인 거잖나? 그러면 이제 29명만 남는다”고 말했다.

링컨함의 정신건강 문제에 대한 보도가 나온 뒤 해군은 자살 생각이나 자살 시도가 증가한 것을 관찰하지 못했다고 밝혔다. 다만 해군은 추가 상담 인력과 자원이 승조원들에게 보내지고 있다고 덧붙였다.

미 중부사령부 사령관 브래드 쿠퍼 제독은 토요일 링컨함을 방문한 뒤 이 함정이 해군이 운용 중인 11척의 항공모함 가운데 정신건강 관련 사례가 가장 적다고 주장하는 성명을 발표했다.

투명성 부족

트럼프 행정부하의 국방부는 의회에 제공하는 정보에 대해 갈수록 입을 굳게 닫고 있다.

피트 헤그세스 국방장관은 2025년 10월 합참의장을 포함한 국방부 인사들에게 의회 지도부와의 모든 소통에 사전 승인이 필요하다고 알리는 메모를 발표했다.

헤그세스는 또한 7월 이란 전쟁에 관한 상원 청문회에서 의원들의 여러 질문에 답변을 피했다.

조지아주 민주당 소속 존 오소프 상원의원이 이란군이 “파괴됐다”, “전투 수행이 불가능해졌다”는 이전 발언들이 사실인지 헤그세스에게 묻자 그는 답변을 거부했다.

헤그세스는 이란 전쟁에 관한 국방부 언론 브리핑도 100일 넘게 열지 않았으며, 마지막 브리핑은 5월 5일이었다.

의원들은 링컨함에서 나타난 것과 같은 현재 군사작전의 단기적 문제에 대한 우려를 해소하려면 의회가 감독 기능을 수행할 수 있어야 한다고 말했다.

미네소타주 민주당 소속 베티 매컬럼 하원의원은 대통령과 국방장관이 임무에 가장 효과적인 방식으로 전력을 배치하고 있는지 정치 지도자들이 평가할 수 있도록 국방부가 정보를 공유해야 한다고 Military Times에 말했다.

일부 민주당 의원들은 전쟁권한결의를 발동하면 의원들이 현 행정부에 책임을 물을 수 있다고 주장했다.

이 결의는 행정부가 군 병력을 배치한 지 48시간 이내에 의회에 통보하도록 요구하며, 의회가 전쟁을 선포하거나 군사력 사용을 승인하지 않는 한 의원들이 60~90일 안에 군 병력을 철수하도록 강제할 수 있게 한다.

레빈은 자신도 그런 접근법을 지지한다며 공화당 동료 의원들에게 나서서 어려운 질문을 던져달라고 요청했다.

하원과 상원의 군사위원회 소속 공화당 의원들은 Military Times의 논평 요청에 응답하지 않았다.

레빈은 “조지 W. 부시를 떠올리게 된다”며 “나는 이라크 전쟁에 전적으로 반대했지만, 그가 밟았던 절차를 생각해 보라. 럼즈펠드 장관, 체니 부통령, 그 밖의 사람들이 얼마나 꾸준히 관여했는지를 생각해 보라”고 말했다.

연안전투함 수병에게는 계획 부족의 문제가 이미 고개를 들고 있다.

이 함정은 호르무즈 해협에서 해군의 봉쇄 작전을 지원해 12척이 넘는 선박을 돌려보내는 데 기여했지만, 미뤄졌던 수리 때문에 이제 당초 예정했던 것보다 더 오랫동안 작전에서 빠져 있게 된다.

이 수병은 이것이 함정 교대 운용에 대한 장기적 계획이 없다는 것을 보여주는 한 사례라고 말했다.

이 수병은 자신이 받은 인상을 이렇게 표현했다. “‘우리는 너희를 계속 여기 두겠다. 너희 함정이 더 이상 운항하거나 기능할 수 없게 될 때까지.’”

Riley Ceder와 Natalie Oliverio 소개

Riley Ceder는 Military Times의 해군 담당 기자로, 장병과 그 가족들에게 직접적인 영향을 미치는 사안과 속보를 취재한다.

Natalie Oliverio는 군과 참전군인 관련 사안을 취재하는 독립 언론인이자 해군 참전군인이다. 인재 담당 임원과 멘토로 활동한 경험을 바탕으로 군 공동체를 형성하는 정책과 사람, 프로그램에 대해 글을 쓴다.

The US Navy has battled operational tempo ordeals for years. The Iran war exposed the flaws.

The US Navy has battled operational tempo ordeals for years. The Iran war exposed the flaws.

The US Navy has battled operational tempo ordeals for years. The Iran war exposed the flaws.

By Riley Ceder and Natalie Oliverio

 Friday, Aug 21, 2026

An F/A-18E Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, Aug. 12, 2026. (U.S. Navy)

Vague operational planning and a lack of transparency during U.S. actions in Iran have exacerbated the U.S. Navy’s longstanding logistics, maintenance and manpower issues — and sailors are feeling the effects, congressional leaders, retired military officials and deployed sailors have told Military Times.

Following revelations from families about some U.S. service members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln struggling with mental health after 250 days without a port visit, sailors, retirees and lawmakers told Military Times that troops were absorbing consequences of longtime flaws within the sea service that have been worsened by the current conflict.

The Navy has struggled for years to meet high operational tempo demands, they said. Deployments are regularly extended, scheduled maintenance is missed and the shipbuilding pace remains glacial, leading to delays in delivery and an undersized fleet.

The issues have spanned multiple presidential administrations but have been compounded by the handling of the Iran war and ensuing military operations, sources said, leading to dire circumstances for some sailors.

Leaders have disputed the descriptions of deteriorating conditions aboard the Lincoln and denied reporting about quality-of-life concerns.

Asked recently by reporters about families’ concerns over the length of the deployment, President Donald Trump dismissed the question, saying that it’s “not nearly long enough.”

Asked about those same concerns, Adm. Daryl Caudle, the service’s chief of naval operations, told Military Times, “Sailors first is not a slogan — it’s a warfighting imperative.”

“The sustained pace of operations in the Middle East has only reinforced that taking care of our sailors and maintaining combat readiness are inseparable,” Caudle said.

‘We need more ships’

Following outcry about conditions aboard the Lincoln, the Navy moved the Nimitz-class carrier USS George Washington from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East, where it arrived Wednesday. The ship is reportedly replacing the Lincoln, which will now steam toward its homeport of San Diego.

The move temporarily leaves the western Pacific without a U.S. aircraft carrier, the presence of which is a key part of the U.S. military’s effort to deter China in the South China Sea and reassure regional allies.

Sailors stand watch on the bridge aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington while transiting the Singapore Strait on Aug. 13, 2026. (MCS2 Wadelon G. Presley/U.S. Navy)

Operational tempo concerns, meanwhile, are nothing new for the service, according to retired Vice Adm. Fozzie Miller, who served as commander of U.S. Fifth Fleet and U.S. Central Command from 2012 to 2015.

Miller joined the Navy in 1979. From his early days in uniform, the service’s goal, he said, was to operate at a level that was neither too harsh for the individual sailor nor too unbearable for the equipment vital to mission success. An adequate number of warships was integral to maintaining that balance.

“We could use more carriers or less [operational] tempo,” Miller said. “It’s one or the other, but we’re a global Navy with global responsibilities, and so if we’re going to fulfill those, we need more ships.”

Rear Adm. Thomas Moore, who led the Navy’s acquisition program and went on to become commander of Naval Sea Systems Command, told Congress in 2013 that the service is “an 11-carrier Navy in a 15-carrier world.”

The demand is unlikely to dwindle, he said.

Thirteen years since Moore’s statement, the Navy is still at 11 carriers. With the USS Nimitz scheduled to retire at the end of next year, that number may soon be 10.

The USS Harry S. Truman and USS Gerald R. Ford are currently sidelined for maintenance after deployments, the latter of which notched a post-Vietnam record 326 days at sea in May after it was extended to support operations in the Middle East. The Nimitz-class USS John C. Stennis is undergoing a years-long overhaul.

The USS Ronald Reagan, also a Nimitz-class, is expected to be deployable by the end of August after a 17-month repair period. The Nimitz-class USS George H.W. Bush is in the Middle East.

“We just don’t have enough aircraft carriers right now in this rotation to sustain all the things we want to do, and I think this is a long-standing problem,” said Steven Wills, a Navy surface warfare officer who retired after 20 years.

In 2014, the Navy began implementing the Optimized Fleet Response Plan, or OFRP, deployment model, which places maintenance, training, eval‎uations and a single eight-month deployment within a 36-month cycle.

The service says the framework is intended to produce a more comprehensively manned and trained force while providing predictability to deployment schedules for sailors and their families.

In 2016, however, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that heavy operational demands led the Navy to increase ship deployment lengths and reduce or defer ship maintenance.

Those decisions made deployments less predictable, ate into training time, contributed to declining ship conditions and increased the time ships required for much-needed maintenance.

From fiscal 2014 through 2019, Navy ships spent more than 33,700 additional days in maintenance beyond intended scheduling, leading to fewer vessels available for training or operations.

An upended supply network

While the Navy has long struggled with carrier availability, current U.S. leadership has created more operational tempo issues through poor planning and insufficient wartime support, according to lawmakers and a sailor who deployed in support of the Iran war.

“Logistics was a complete failure the entire time out there — food, supplies, parts,” said the sailor, who served aboard an Independence-class littoral combat ship and was granted anonymity due to fear of reprisal.

Iranian attacks damaged the Navy’s longstanding logistics hub in Bahrain in February, disrupting the regional supply network supporting ships operating in the Middle East.

Smoke rises after Iran carried out a missile strike on the main headquarters of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in Manama, Bahrain. (Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The Navy shifted the new logistics hub to Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, an atoll in the Indian Ocean that sits more than 2,000 miles away from the service’s carrier strike groups in the Middle East.

Diego Garcia’s distance proved to be problematic, the sailor said, with the hub requiring the LCS to place a food order 30 days in advance.

Those orders were nearly impossible, however, with an influx schedule exacerbated by poor planning, the sailor added. Sailors were unable to resupply from the hub, instead grabbing whatever could be salvaged from replenishment-at-sea oilers.

“There’s no excuse for why, if we’re at war, we can’t get an expedited food order,” the sailor said.

Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., told Military Times that the logistical issues described by the sailor were due to preparation failures.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of people who’ve been deployed, and you know, the basic problem seems to be that if they were going to use Bahrain as a hub to restock, to get food and to provide rest and all that,” Levin said. “If that was the idea, well, clearly that didn’t work out. After February, March — [the administration] should have thought of that.”

‘People can break, too’

At least two sailors attempted to jump overboard from the USS Abraham Lincoln, families of Lincoln sailors previously told Military Times.

While the individual mental circumstances of the incidents remain unknown, the frantic operational tempo of combat operations inevitably takes a natural toll on service members, according to one sailor who has deployed to the Middle East aboard an aircraft carrier during the current conflict.

“Just like machines, people can break, too,” said the service member, who was granted anonymity for fear of reprisal from leadership. “They need rest.”

Time to rest was not always available. Losing sleep was sometimes part of ensuring safety.

If equipment broke, sailors would, at times, work well beyond normal shifts until it was fixed. In some instances, completion of the task could mean the difference between life and death.

In a 2021 review, the GAO found that just 14% of Navy officers surveyed slept at least seven hours per night during a recent deployment, while 67% reported five hours or less. GAO also found that the Navy routinely assigned fewer sailors to ships than workload studies indicated were needed to safely operate them.

By 2023, surface-fleet sailors were averaging 5.25 hours of sleep every 24 hours, below the Navy’s standard of providing at least 7.5 hours of sleep opportunity. GAO identified crew shortfalls and mattress problems as challenges to managing fatigue.

A sailor works on an aircraft component in the hangar bay of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on Aug. 11, 2026. (U.S. Navy)

For its part, the Navy has implemented measures to try to address the issue, including initiating a study involving about 1,600 sailors wearing Oura rings to monitor sleep and other biometric indicators while underway.

But lack of sleep, according to personnel, has been just one detriment experienced during the conflict with Iran. Service members have also faced food shortages onboard the carrier, the sailor said, with quality that fluctuated between bad and horrible.

“It was either undercooked, overcooked or unrecognizable at all,” the sailor said.

As extensions piled on, a decline in morale took on a recognizable tone at the phone center or in conversations at the galleys. Humor darkened even more than usual, and port visits meant less and less.

“These things have been happening on deployments for always,” said Parker Moore, a nuclear reactor operator who served aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln before its recent deployment. “It is bad, but it is always bad.”

During Moore’s time on Lincoln, the stigma surrounding mental health remained preval‎ent. There were mental health professionals aboard the ship, but if a sailor sought help, the service member could be taken off their job.

“They’re terrified to disappoint the people around them,” Moore said. “If I don’t do my job, there’s only 30 people who can do it, right? So now there’s only 29 people.”

Following the report on mental health issues aboard Lincoln, the Navy said it had not observed an increase in suicidal ideation or suicide attempts. The service did note, however, that additional counselors and resources were being sent to the crew.

Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, visited Lincoln on Saturday and issued a statement claiming that the ship had the lowest number of mental health cases among the Navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers.

Lack of transparency

The Pentagon under the Trump administration has become increasingly tight-lipped over the information it provides to Congress.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth released a memo in October 2025 informing Defense Department personnel, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that authorization was required for any communication to leaders on Capitol Hill.

Hegseth also dodged several questions from lawmakers during a July Senate hearing on the Iran War.

When Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., asked the Pentagon leader whether previous statements about Iran’s military being “destroyed” and “made combat ineffective” were true, Hegseth declined to answer.

Hegseth has also not held a Pentagon press briefing about the Iran war for more than 100 days, with the last coming on May 5.

To alleviate concerns over short-term problems with current military operations like those aboard the Lincoln, Congress must be able to carry out oversight, lawmakers said.

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., told Military Times that the Pentagon should be sharing information that would allow political leaders to assess whether the president and defense secretary were deploying assets in the most mission-effective way.

Invoking the War Powers Resolution would allow lawmakers to hold the current administration accountable, some Democrats have argued.

The resolution requires the executive branch to notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying military forces and allows lawmakers to enforce the removal of military forces within 60 to 90 days unless Congress has declared war or authorized military force.

Levin supports that approach, he said, and asked that his Republican colleagues stand up and ask tough questions.

Republican members of the House and Senate armed services committees did not respond to Military Times’ requests for comment.

“I think back to George W. Bush,” Levin said. “I disagreed wholeheartedly with Iraq, but you think about the steps that he took. You think about ... Secretary Rumsfeld, Vice President Cheney, others — their consistent engagement.”

For the LCS sailor, planning deficiencies are already rearing their head.

Though the ship did assist with the Navy’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, turning away more than a dozen vessels, it will now be sidelined longer than scheduled because of deferred repairs.

It is one example, the sailor said, of there being no long-term plan for ship rotations.

“‘We’re gonna keep you out here,” the sailor said of the impression made on them, “until your ship can’t operate or function anymore.’”

About Riley Ceder and Natalie Oliverio

Riley Ceder is a Navy reporter at Military Times, where he covers issues directly affecting service members and their families, as well as breaking news.

Natalie Oliverio is an independent journalist and Navy veteran who covers military and veterans’ issues. Drawing on her experience as a talent executive and mentor, she writes about the policies, people and programs shaping the military community.