Adm. Brad Cooper, the top US military commander in the Middle East, visited the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea during a 10-day tour in the region that concluded on Saturday, US Central Command said. The Lincoln arrived in the Middle East in January and has been supporting the US war against Iran, including the blockade on Iranian ports. Its deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days. Extended deployments of carriers, which can have more than 5,000 sailors and Marines on board, have raised concerns about the impact not only on the ships but on service members. “History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era,” Cooper said of the Lincoln strike group in a statement released Saturday.
