USS Lincoln heads home after extended deployment to the Middle East

Service members and their families had complained about deteriorating morale on the ship as its mission was extended to support the Iran war.

The USS Abraham Lincoln is on its way back home following an extended nine-month deployment, a U.S. official told NBC News on Thursday.

The U.S. official said the ship has been sailing for a few days and is expected to arrive back in San Diego in a few weeks.

With the Lincoln’s departure from the Middle East, where it was supporting the U.S. war against Iran, the USS George Washington arrived in the region Wednesday to begin a deployment, according to U.S. Central Command.

CENTCOM’s commander, Adm. Brad Cooper, said in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday that he visited the crew of the Lincoln on Saturday to announce their return home.

“I delivered the words every deployed sailor and Marine longs to hear: ‘You have delivered a performance for the ages, and now you are going home,’” Cooper wrote.