Navy Tells Sailors to Expect 10 to 11 Month Deployments for Years as the Iran War Strains the Fleet

The U.S. Navy expects long deployments to stay standard for at least the next couple of years as ships keep operating around the Iran war, the Daily Caller reports.

The change. According to USNI News, as relayed by the Daily Caller, sailors are being told to expect deployments of 10 to 11 months instead of the traditional seven. Ships headed to the Middle East are being sent out with enough supplies for the longer stretch.

What leaders said. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle told USNI News: "You can kind of expect at least a 10-month deployment, and so that's just the nature of what the capacity of the Navy can do." He added, "I need a bigger Navy, and if you want to shorten the length of time of deployments, then obviously the math would say I need more capacity." Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Perryman said the decision to keep ships out longer is "a decision above the Navy," adding that "the Pentagon makes the decisions that they have to make, and then we support those decisions."

The background. The Daily Caller says longer deployments began in 2023, when the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group spent nine months fighting the Houthis in the Red Sea, and that they stretched past 11 months once the U.S. entered the war with Iran. It notes the USS Abraham Lincoln returned home less than a month ago after one of the longest deployments in naval history. The report also quotes defense analyst Brent Sadler, who wrote on X that this is "a feature of a too small Navy in a too dangerous world" and that deployments should return to a nominal six months.

What to keep in mind. The numbers come from Navy leaders speaking to USNI News. The Daily Caller says the Navy did not immediately respond to its request for comment. The report does not give a cost or a plan for adding ships.