🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 Despite being the newest aircraft carrier of the US Navy, the USS Gerald R. Ford has been poorly maintained

8 months into its deployment, long past the time it should have returned home to refit and reorganise, the crew of the USS Gerald R. Ford is dealing with low morale

One sailor missed the death of his great-grandfather. Another is thinking about leaving the Navy after almost a year away from her toddler daughter. Two more said the ship had sewage problems.

President Trump’s decision to extend for a second time the deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is taking a toll on the ship’s sailors and their families, and leading some to consider leaving the Navy when they return to home port, according to interviews with sailors on board the ship and their family members back home.

Carrier deployments during peacetime are typically six months long, with planners allowing for a few months of potential overrun if needed, said Mark Montgomery, a retired rear admiral. But the Ford’s sailors have been away from home for eight months already, setting up a possible deployment of 11 months, he said.

The Navy has 11 carriers in total, all of which are following long-planned schedules. At any one time, some are dispatched to different areas of the globe, some are conducting training, and others are undergoing maintenance. Besides the Ford, the USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier strike group has also been sent to the Middle East.

In a statement, a Navy official acknowledged the challenges inherent in naval service and said Navy leaders make it a priority to support sailors and their families.

Overtaxed crews can be a problem across the Navy’s fleet, beyond just the Ford. In April and May 2025, near the end of an eight-month deployment, the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman lost several jet fighters while countering Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea. A Navy investigation blamed the high operational tempo of the mission.

One sailor on board the Ford told the Journal that many crew members are angry and upset, with some saying they want to leave the Navy at the end of the deployment.

Long deployments can also be hard on ships themselves. After eight months at sea, equipment starts to break and long-planned maintenance and upgrades have to be postponed, disrupting schedules at the shipyards, Montgomery said. That has a knock-on effect on the maintenance and training cycles of other ships, he said.

One sailor reported that the Ford has problems with its toilets without going into details. The Navy official said the Ford’s sewage system, which uses vacuum technology to transport waste from roughly 650 toilets on board, has experienced issues during the deployment, averaging about one maintenance call a day.

🔗 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/missed-funerals-and-blocked-toilets-iran-deployment-takes-a-toll-on-us-sailors/ar-AA1WNrT0