U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media that multiple media reports
in the past 48 hours about the USS Abraham Lincoln's Middle East deployment were
"false." CENTCOM said claims that seven sailors died in a shipboard brawl and
that onboard suicide ideation had surged were "fabricated," and that there have
been no deaths aboard the carrier; a sailor who went overboard on Aug. 3 was
rapidly and safely rescued. CENTCOM added the Lincoln has one of the Navy's
highest re-enlistment rates and, after more than 260 days at sea, roughly 10,000
sorties and 1.5 million pounds of ordnance, the carrier strike group's sailors
and Marines remain "resolute" with "high morale."
