Missed Funerals and Blocked Toilets: Iran Deployment Takes a Toll on U.S. Sailors
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford’s lengthy mission is causing strains for crew members and their families
Feb. 21, 2026 at 8:00 amWSJ’s Shelby Holliday explains the massive U.S. military presence in the Middle East as President Trump amps up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program. Illustration: Ryan Trefes
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.
The Ford, the U.S.’s largest warship, has been at sea since last June. In October, the Pentagon rerouted the ship from its scheduled Mediterranean mission to the Caribbean to support oil-tanker seizures and the U.S. operation to capture Nicolás Maduro, then Venezuela’s leader.
Then earlier this year, the crew got word that their deployment would be extended again, taking them back across the Atlantic Ocean to the Middle East to support potential American airstrikes on Iran. The Ford transited the Strait of Gibraltar on Friday, heading east, according to a satellite photo obtained by The Wall Street Journal.
