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WASHINGTON — Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gave a hero’s welcome to the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln as they returned to San Diego after spending some 300 days at sea — and at one point dropped down for push-ups to correct a mistake.
Hegseth extolled the crew, commending them for weathering through a lot of adversity and carrying out complex missions against Iran, while briefly acknowledging the mental health struggles many of the sailors faced.
“I realize I’m the only thing standing between you and home,” Hegseth told them. “I’m the one who signed that orders book twice to extend you…[I] plead guilty because of the incredible effectiveness that you showcased on the battlefield and the necessity.”
He later added: “I draw inspiration from the mission that you executed so successfully. You have changed the arc of history, ensuring that crazy people, theocrats, never get a nuclear weapon.”
To cap off his hype and thank-you speech to the Lincoln crew, Hegseth announced it was being honored with a Presidential Unit Citation, among the highest awards a military unit can receive in the US.
During its record-breaking deployment, members of the roughly 5,000-strong Lincoln crew reportedly dealt with mental health challenges as they were kept away from their families for an extended period of time while facing issues with dwindling hygiene products and other critical supplies.
Some of them reportedly attempted to jump overboard as they grappled with those brutal conditions.
The supply shortages are believed to be the result of Iran’s retaliatory attacks that were aimed at disrupting supply lines, particularly a base in Bahrain.
Hegseth blamed the media for exposing those issues.
“There were a few folks in the media who tried to turn the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln into some sort of a symbol, a symbol of dysfunction, or a symbol of low morale, or a symbol of a failed mission,” he said.
“I know it’s the exact opposite,” he added. “Instead, what makes the US military, the US Navy, and all these sailors different is that you adapt and that you’re resilient and you overcome. You finish the mission nonetheless.”
“Yes, it’s hard.”
The Lincoln was relieved by the USS George Washington in August, but it took the nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier weeks to return to the US.
During his welcome home speech to the sailors, Hegseth touted some of Lincoln’s feats during its remarkably lengthy stay in the Middle East to support Operation Epic Fury and the blockade of Iran.
“What the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group did, no other carrier strike group has ever done,” he gushed. “10,000 sorties, 23,000 combat flight hours, almost 4000 combat sorties, 1.5 million pounds of ordnance dropped on the enemy.”
“You did it without an aircraft mishap. I honestly have no idea how that’s possible.”
The crew cheered Hegseth as he boasted about their achievements. But at one point, he fumbled a statistic about claiming they did 60 hours of constant combat flight ops. He was told it was 160.
“Excuse me, I’ll do two push-ups,” the chest-thumping war secretary said before dropping down and pumping out the two push-ups to acknowledge his mistake.
“The level of excellence, the level of skill, the level of precision, the only reaction the American people and the American media should have is pride,” he later added.
Earlier in the day, Hegseth, 46, was seen trying to keep up with the troops in San Diego during running and military exercises.
Recently, the USS Theodore Roosevelt set sail from San Diego and is poised to join the other two aircraft carriers currently stationed in the Middle East. It may relieve one of the other two.
Officials had assured the crew that they had learned lessons from the Lincoln’s deployment, stocking the vessel with critical supplies and improving amenities such as communications so that the sailors could remain in touch with loved ones.
