Mental Health Issues Flashing Red... U.S. Military Strains Under Protracted War

[Anchor]

As the war with Iran prolongs, warning signs are flashing across various branches of the U.S. military. Core weapons are rapidly depleting, and red flags are also being raised over the mental health of crew members aboard an aircraft carrier that has been stationed off the coast of Iran for more than 200 days.

Correspondent Lee Hanseok reports from Washington.

[Reporter]

The MQ-9 Reaper, a key precision-strike asset for the U.S. military.

Heavily deployed for operations around the Strait of Hormuz, at least 45 units—25 percent of its inventory—have been lost.

Stockpiles of Patriot missiles, central to air defense networks, have also fallen below the critical threshold of 1,700 rounds.

Bloomberg analyzed that the U.S. military's core ammunition inventories have dropped to dangerously insufficient levels.

The USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier operating off the coast of Iran, has also reached its limit.

It has been stationed at sea without a port visit for 208 consecutive days, an unprecedented feat in modern naval history.

[USS Abraham Lincoln Sailor: The only difficult part has been the mental aspect, such as managing sleep.]

[Major Joe Capstaff: It's tough. As I mentioned, I had my first child in February. So I am so excited to go home and meet my baby. (You haven't met your daughter yet?) Yes.]

Due to Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, resupply efforts from the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain have been delayed, leading to severe shortages of daily necessities. Issues involving exhaustion and mental health are coming to the surface, including crew members jumping overboard.

The Trump administration outwardly denies these situations.

[Pete Hegseth / U.S. Secretary of Defense: We ensure that every shift, every team, and every captain is provided with everything they need every single moment.]

[Chris Coons / Democratic Senator: I don't think President Trump is listening to these troubling examples showing that sailors are being pushed to their limits.]

However, reports continue to emerge that the USS George Washington, which had been checking China in the Pacific, is being urgently dispatched to the Middle East to relieve the USS Lincoln, raising voices of concern over gaps in U.S. defense capabilities in Northeast Asia.

With interceptor missile shortages, deterrence against Russia in the Ukraine war is also weakening.

The protracted war with Iran is cascading into a series of negative shocks for global security architecture.

(Camera: Park Eun-ha | Video Editing: Cho Moo-hwan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.