Hung Cao Torpedoes Media Narrative About 'Miserable' USS Abraham Lincoln Crew
Having failed to gain enough traction on the Air Force One rope-a-dope story
from earlier in the week, the legacy media – in its never ending quest
for a "gotcha story" on President Trump – has made a hard pivot and is
now focused on the conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. (A topic
they didn't care one iota about until it occurred to them that possibly
unhappy sailors could reflect poorly on the Commander in Chief.)
Here is RedState's Bob Hoge reporting
on the media's reaction to the supposed widespread misery on the
Lincoln, which has been on a long-term deployment in the Middle East:
The
reports are everywhere — miserable conditions supposedly aboard the USS
Abraham Lincoln, including food shortages, broken plumbing, widespread
exhaustion, and plummeting morale. It’s so bad, these reports say, that
some sailors have attempted to jump overboard and presumably drown.
Breathless headlines like “Conditions on US aircraft carrier at sea for
more than 250 days raise alarms” are rampant.
As Bob noted, the increasing histrionics from the media led CENTCOM to release an "everybody just calm down" statement
to set the record straight, particularly about a false report that
seven sailors had died in a brawl aboard the Lincoln. Here's CENTCOM:
Over
the past 48 hours, multiple media outlets have reported several false
claims related to USS Abraham Lincoln's (CVN 72) deployment to the
Middle East. One report alleged seven Sailors died in a brawl aboard the
aircraft carrier and others have recently suggested a spike in suicidal
ideations. These reports are FALSE.
This did little
to placate the press, which is hungry to head into the weekend with
something to pin on Trump for the Sunday morning news shows.
Not willing to play that game, Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao
released a statement Friday afternoon shooting down the idea that the
Lincoln and its crew were experiencing anything other than a long and
challenging deployment. Something sailors and their families have dealt
with for decades.
Cao said
the crew "crushed their deployment" and will soon return home as a part
of a normal, planned rotation. And while there have been some
challenges – aircraft carriers are like floating cities and, with that,
come certain hardships – the crew remains unbroken.
The
USS Abraham Lincoln crushed their deployment and will return home soon
as part of a planned rotation. Details will come but let me be clear:
the safety and security of our Sailors and Marines always comes first.
Mission accomplishment. Troop Welfare. This is how we lead.
The
Lincoln was extended because the mission demanded it. Deployments are
hard. Combat operations make them harder. War is hell and normal
routines are disrupted. One of the hardest aspects about warfighting
beyond knowingly placing our service members in harm’s way is that even
with the best planning and communication, change and uncertainty will
always be in play. Our success depends on how we adapt.
Sailors
and Marines are expected to dig deep—and they always do. A leader’s
responsibility is to take care of their people the best they can while
balancing mission requirements. During this deployment we have seen
both: the job is getting done and our leaders are taking care of their
people.
Unfortunately, the media are trying to paint our warriors
as victims. Not only is that dishonest but it takes away the focus on
the enemy and the threat it poses against our nation, people, and way of
life.
Here is the truth—
266 days deployed.
200 days in a combat zone.
10,000+ sorties.
1.5M lbs. of ordnance dropped.
And retention rates on the ABE are amongst the highest of all carriers.
It is also true—
A small number of mental health cases were treated with no loss of life.
Meal plans were adjusted when fresh resupply was unavailable, without a single meal being missed.
Calls home were limited when the operational threat was too high.
There
is no question our young men and women have been pushed to their
limits—but they have never broken. They are rightly tired—but have never
been out of the fight. However, it is clear, knowing the whole story,
our force and their families are not victims. They are the epitome of
American strength and resilience.
So, when the USS Abraham Lincoln
pulls into the pier, join me and stand proudly with a grateful heart
and give our Sailors and Marines the Hero’s Welcome they deserve.
Semper Fi and Hooyah.
No one is downplaying the challenging conditions
aboard the Lincoln. Nine months at sea, much of it spent in combat
operation, is no picnic, and the sailors and Marines aboard her have
every right to be exhausted and eager to get home to their families.
The
Lincoln is coming home. Her crew did the job they were sent to do. And
after 266 days at sea, perhaps the story isn't that they were "victims"
of Donald Trump.
Perhaps the story is exactly what Cao said – they crushed the mission.
No comments:
Post a Comment