King and Colleagues Call for Committee Hearing on Needless, Avoidable Shortages and Strain on Troops

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), is calling for a public hearing to scrutinize the planning and management of extended military deployments in support of ongoing operations in Iran and the mounting toll on American servicemembers and their families. In a letter to SASC Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS), King and twelve of his colleagues pointed to recent reports of deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and other ships, as well as extended deployments affecting soldiers, airmen, National Guardsmen, and reservists. The lawmakers are seeking testimony from Department of Defense leadership about how the military is supporting deployed servicemembers, planning relief rotations and addressing the effects of extended deployments on military readiness, recruitment, and retention.

The request follows reports that sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have faced deteriorating living conditions during an extended deployment, including food rationing, shortages of water and other basic supplies, broken facilities and serious mental health concerns. Most recently, Stars and Stripes reported that military families stationed in Bahrain are facing "uncharted territory" when it comes to a lack of planning and communications from the highest levels of government - from reasons for the war to sudden and chaotic evacuations.

"The toll this unauthorized, disastrous war is taking on our troops is unconscionable," King and his colleagues wrote. "Troops are suffering because of this Administration's inability to end this war or make the environment safe enough for our servicemembers to be delivered the food, medication or supplies they need."

"Military families and the American people deserve answers about when our heroes will come home and how DoD plans to restore military readiness that has been drained by this war," the lawmakers continued. "Supply shortages and unjustified extended deployments also have a real impact on our ability to recruit and retain our servicemembers."

"As Members of this Committee, we take seriously our responsibility to make sure the U.S. military is properly led, well-resourced, supported and able to conduct its missions," the lawmakers concluded. "We believe it is critical that we conduct public oversight to ensure that whenever we ask the military to answer the Nation's call, we will have their backs - not leave them stranded with no support."

King is joined on the letter by Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI).

The full text of the letter can be found here and below.

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Dear Chairman Wicker:

We request that you convene a public Armed Services Committee hearing with Department of Defense (DoD) leadership regarding the poor planning and mismanagement of extended deployments to support Iran operations and the impact on our troops. Recent reports of sailors suffering from severe mental health issues amid deteriorating conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln have only added to a disturbing pattern of failures to adequately plan and support our troops, who have been away from their families indefinitely as the Iran War drags on.

On August 11, Military Times reported that multiple sailors on board the USS Abraham Lincoln currently supporting Iran operations attempted to jump overboard, a heartbreaking decision in effort to escape the mental health toll of an extended deployment that was planned to end in May but is now at 9 months and counting. Horrifying messages from military families described other poor conditions onboard the Lincoln, including food rationing, rotten meals, shortages of supplies like water and soap, overflowing toilets, broken facilities and disrupted mail delivery. It took nine months for the Navy to relieve the Lincoln with the USS George Washington, after conditions had reached such severity that military families directly confronted the Acting Secretary of the Navy. This has revealed the real impact of unplanned deployment extensions on our ability to maintain and logistically support our ships in a contested environment.

This is not the first time during this war that we have seen the consequences of extended deployments onboard an aircraft carrier or even other ships. Sailors on the USS Ford experienced hundreds of broken toilets and significant damage from a non-combat fire that injured multiple sailors and affected 100 sleeping berths and forced it to redirect to Greece for emergency repair. After this emergency repair, the Ford was again sent back to the Red Sea to support Iran operations - eventually completing 11 months of deployment, even though the Navy tries to limit deployments to seven months. Military families of servicemembers on board the multiple ships as part of the Carrier Strike Groups (CSGs) in the region have reported emotional and financial strain from the unplanned extensions, struggling to balance work and childcare and caught in limbo with disrupted plans every time orders are extended.

Both the Lincoln and the Ford Carrier Strike Groups (CSGs) were redirected from their original missions to support President Trump's illegal wars of choice. The Lincoln originally deployed in November to conduct routine patrols in the Indo-Pacific, but was redirected to the Middle East in January to support the start of the Iran operations. The Ford ultimately served a whopping 11 months at sea - redirected three times from an original mission to support deterrence in Europe, to operations in the Caribbean Sea and against Venezuela, to Iran operations. This Administration has failed to explain why it has insisted on stretching our sailors in this way without adequate planning - let alone for unauthorized wars of choice.

The strain on our troops is not confined to the Navy. In fact, our offices and press have heard story after story of Soldiers and Airmen, including National Guardsmen and Reservists, seeing their deployments extended with uncertainty about when they will be relieved by other units and can return home to their families. Bases in the Middle East originally designed to support a specific footprint have been stretched to support a much larger scale of units now stationed there - and conditions are deteriorating as too many people meet too little space and supplies.

The toll this illegal, disastrous war is taking on our troops is unconscionable. Troops are suffering because of this Administration's inability to end this war or make the environment safe enough for our servicemembers to be delivered the food, medication or supplies they need.

All these developments strongly indicate a systemic failure of planning and adaptation by the Secretary of Defense and senior DoD leaders. It is appalling that in month seven of the Iran War, DoD still continues to fail to anticipate and plan for the second-order consequences of the President's choices to continue this war with no end.

Military families and the American people deserve answers about when our heroes will come home and how DoD plans to restore military readiness that has been drained by this war. Supply shortages and unjustified extended deployments also have a real impact on our ability to recruit and retain our servicemembers - why would anyone sign up to fight when they fear they will be exploited and left without supplies, recourse or support? Not only do we owe our troops the bare minimum respect and support they deserve, but it is a recruitment and retention imperative.

The stakes couldn't be higher. The longer this Administration fails to articulate a plan to end this disastrous war, the longer our brave servicemembers will pay the price.

We request a public hearing to help Congress and the public better understand how we got here and how the Department will ensure it never happens again. We call on the Department to explain to Congress, military families and the American people how it assesses and justifies the readiness impacts of these extended deployments, how it plans for relief rotations and what accounts for the systemic failures to provide troops with the support they need to do the mission the President has illegally asked of them. Importantly, the Department must justify and detail exactly how it plans to sustain our troops in this war indefinitely -- as the President's negotiations continue to fail.

As Members of this Committee, we take seriously our responsibility to make sure the U.S. military is properly led, well-resourced, supported and able to conduct its missions. We believe it is critical that we conduct public oversight to ensure that whenever we ask the military to answer the Nation's call, we will have their backs - not leave them stranded with no support. For these reasons, we urge the Committee to convene a hearing at the earliest opportunity to examine these issues directly with DoD leaders.

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