Navy’s top enlisted sailor says 10- to 11-month sea deployments more likely for now

By Mike Glenn - The Washington Times - Friday, October 30, 2026

U.S. Navy sailors and their families should expect extra-long sea deployments for the foreseeable future.

The USS Abraham Lincoln was scheduled for a routine seven-month Western Pacific patrol when it departed its home port of San Diego in November 2025. But the aircraft carrier was rerouted to the U.S. 5th Fleet to enforce a naval blockade and take part in Operation Epic Furty, the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.

The Lincoln returned to San Diego on Oct. 8, 2026 - 321 days later.

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That kind of nearly year-long deployment will probably be the standard for the next couple of years, the Navy’s top enlisted sailor said this week during an address to the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation.

“Nobody wants an 11-month deployment,” Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Perryman said. “But what they really don’t like is getting told it’s seven months, and then every two weeks getting a change.”

The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group completed a historic 326-day deployment in May 2026 while logging thousands of flight hours in support of regional operations in the Middle East.

By letting sailors know that sea deployments for the foreseeable future will probably last 10-11 months, their families will be able to plan for the longer naval mission.

Master Chief Perryman, known in Navy circles as MCPON, said ultimately it’s not the Navy’s call to keep a ship at sea longer than it was initially scheduled for.

“The decision to extend our ships longer is a decision above the Navy. [Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth] and [President Trump] have a different calculus than we do,” he said. “They make the decisions … and then we support those decisions.”