Text messages sent home by a sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have revealed new details about the deteriorating conditions on board, according to a report.The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier was deployed to the Middle East last November with around 5,000 crew on board and has been supporting President Donald Trump’s war with Iran since the spring.It had been expected to be deployed until May but its stay has been extended and there is currently no end date in sight, a situation that has led to a number of recent reports about dwindling morale.The texts between the sailor, whose identity was withheld to protect them from reprisals, was shared with MeidasTouch by the family member.A sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been deployed to the Middle East since November, has complained about the dire lack of fresh food on board in text messages home (AFP/Getty)In a first exchange, they explain that they are without milk because “the supply ship that comes here can’t bring fruits and stuff cause it can’t stay fresh long enough with the time it gets them to get here.“We haven’t had anything fresh but meat cause it’s freezed. Sometimes it gets here rotten.”The sailor later posts a photo of a tupperware tub filled with cereal, saying they had to eat it dry: “Haven’t had milk in 3 months.”In a longer message they write: “Yeah families are just as frustrated as the people on the boat. This deployment is the worst one and I pray no other boat goes through the same. “Even people that have been deployed a hundred times claim this one to be the worst and believe it can get worse than this. The navy does not care. The mission will always come first.”The sailor then says that a shipmate expressed a belief that their ordeal was “an experiment the government is doing to see how far they can push sailors limits of being out to sea with the worst experience,” an idea they do not entirely discount.Crew aboard the aircraft carrier are reportedly so unhappy that some have attempted to jump off (Reuters)“I know my family needs me and the navy is not being fair rn taking me away far longer than expected,” they lament. “Worst part my expectations were already at an all time low. But as per usual, the navy beat those too by going lower than hell. So there’s that.”The Independent has contacted the U.S. Navy for comment.U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the concerns during a trip to Panama Thursday, claiming they were “completely misrepresented”.”We make sure every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment. Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody. “What they do in those high seas in those austere conditions with less port calls - it's incredible.” In a statement about the Lincoln issued Monday and cited by Stars and Stripes, the Navy said: “Leadership is continuously conducting assessments to monitor and sustain the psychological readiness of every sailor.”However, the bleak texts are just the latest alarming claims to emerge from the carrier, with The Military Times reporting Wednesday that multiple sailors had attempted to jump overboard to escape it.Reports of low morale among the 5,000 personnel on board have led their families to express concern to the Navy’s top brass (Reuters)Annabel Loma, the wife of one such sailor, told the publication she was concerned about her husband’s wellbeing. “He’s scared,” she said. “He thinks he’ll get a dishonorable discharge and, just because he was burnt out, his 13-year career is ruined, just like that.”Maria Rodriguez, also the wife of an active-duty sailor, said her husband had prevented another man from leaping overboard.Shelby Sanders, a high school student whose mother is serving on the Lincoln, said she came across as “definitely down” in their email correspondence, while Manuel Guevara characterized the mood of his son similarly.Around 200 concerned family members addressed their fears about the situation to Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao at an emotional town hall meeting at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California, last week.One woman told officials that her husband had told her he “hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow,” according to Stars and Stripes.Recordings of a separate virtual meeting reviewed by MS NOW found the families expressing alarm over their loved ones’ mental health, as well as worries over food shortages, water contamination and safety on deck.Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao was confronted with the concerns of loved ones at an emotional town hall meeting in San Diego last week (Reuters)Officials did acknowledge a number of problems – from clogged toilets, poor ventilation leading to mildewed showers and holdups in the delivery of fresh fruit and mail – and stressed that such logistical problems were being taken seriously.“We hear you loud and clear [regarding] the impact this has on families, on service members and the long-term ability of us to stand, sustain our forces’ health,” Vice Admiral Joseph Cahill told them, per the network.Secretary Cao reportedly told attendees the USS Theodore Roosevelt is being prepared to relieve the carrier under strain but did not say when it might arrive.The Lincoln was built in the 1980s and has since been deployed all over the world. Its place in history is already assured since it provided the backdrop for George W Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech of May 1, 2003, when the Texan prematurely declared an end to U.S. involvement in Iraq during the War on Terror – eight years before the ultimate withdrawal.