US military faces reckoning over morale after carrier crew crisis | DW News

Thousands of crew members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln are on their way home, but their plight has spotlighted morale issues many blame on the US war against Iran. Family members of the aircraft carrier’s sailors have told of appalling conditions, including overflowing toilets and food shortages after nearly nine months at sea. A few of those onboard are said to have attempted to jump into the sea. DW Reporter Pablo Foley Elias asks Ann Wright, a retired US Army colonel and former US diplomat, how this crisis reflects on the larger deployment of US personnel to the Middle East. And Jeff Merrick of Military Families Speak Out talks about how far beyond the Lincoln these conditions have been reported. The issue has also become a political liability for US President Donald Trump, who promised not to embroil Americans in more foreign wars, as his party faces an uphill battle to keep control of Congress in November.

Chapters:
00:00 Relief for crew of US carrier
01:04 Ann Wright, retired US Army colonel
02:15 Jeff Merrick, Military Families Speak Out
02:30 "I don’t expect ... the Holiday Inn"
04:00 Other ships, burning issues
05:30 Why are we fighting?
06:20 Deployment complaints "fake news"
07:55 "Out of touch" with deployment reality
09:30 War’s deadly reality, mental strain


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