Sailors walked off the USS Abraham Lincoln onto a pier in Thailand today after 286 days at sea with no port call at all.
Carriers normally pull into port about every six weeks to take on supplies and let the crew ashore. The Lincoln left San Diego the week before Thanksgiving, got sent to the Iran war in January, was due home in May, and came into Laem Chabang with rust streaked down the length of its hull. Families told the Navy at town halls about food and drinking water running short, non-working plumbing, and lost mail. Somewhere in those months, shipmates stopped at least one sailor from jumping off the ship.
Hung Cao, the acting Navy Secretary, called the coverage of those conditions dishonest and said “a small number of mental health cases were treated with no loss of life.” He was nominated for the permanent job today. Donald Trump was asked about the same reports three weeks ago, and whether the Lincoln had been out too long. “No, no, no,” he said. “Not nearly long enough.”
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Agriculture Department defunds 2 of 3 programs studying the foodborne parasite Cyclospora and moves the third to Iowa, where no scientist will follow, during a record outbreak, POLITICO reports.
Today’s GovBrief News
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Source: Channel NewsAsia
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Source: The Hill
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Source: NextGov
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Source: Monroe County, New York
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