Sailors on an aircraft carrier endure harrowing conditions

Letters from the Editor: The Gazette, Friday, August 28, 2026

The USS Abraham Lincoln is moving after more than 220 days of deployment. Let’s not lose sight of harrowing conditions our sailors endure at sea.

I served in the Navy aboard an aircraft carrier. It’s not the glossy version shown in recruiting commercials, it’s hard, uncomfortable, often unhealthy, but carried out with incredible dedication and professionalism.

My berthing held 93 men packed into one space, racks stacked 3 high, almost no room to move, no privacy. You dressed, slept, and stored your entire life in a space smaller than a coffin.

At sea, we worked 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, no days off. The ship ran nonstop, so did we. Sailors were exhausted at the end of their shift, the next day started the same way. Working on a flight deck during flight operations is considered one of the most hazardous jobs in the military.

Food and water was a struggle. Food so poor, many limited themselves to one meal a day. Some days you could see an oil slick in coffee from jet fuel contaminating drinking water. You drank anyway, you were thirsty.

I served during peacetime; two sixmonth deployments, only once did we go more than 30 days without a port call. I can’t imagine spending more than 220 days at sea without one.

I’m not sharing this to complain but to shed light on what service members endure keeping our country safe. Sacrifices are real, mostly made quietly by sailors who rarely get recognition.

Larry Engebritson

Marion