US naval blockade: What’s on the menu for sailors, marines on warships; New pictures surfaced

Families of US service members deployed on warships in the Middle East say their loved ones are going hungry, due to limited food supplies and poor quality food on ships amid the US naval blockade of Iranian ports.Photos shared by service members aboard the USS Tripoli and USS Abraham Lincoln, obtained by USA TODAY, show small portions: a lunch tray containing a small scoop of chopped meat and a folded tortilla; A dinner plate containing a handful of boiled carrots, a dry meat patty, and a gray slab of processed meat.“The food is tasteless and not nearly enough, and they’re hungry all the time,” said Karen Erskine-Valentine, a West Virginia pastor who is sending care packages to a sailor aboard the Abraham Lincoln. “That’s how your heart breaks.”Dan F., whose daughter is a Marine aboard the USS Tripoli, said she told him in sporadic messages that fresh produce was no longer available and that crew members were cutting supplies. A coffee machine on board broke; Dan said he has stopped drinking coffee in solidarity.“We have the strongest military in the world,” Dan, a 63-year-old former Marine who wished to be identified only by his first name to protect his daughter from retaliation, told USA TODAY. “You must not be short of food. We have the same thing at our opponents’ disposal.” [was] We fed our people.”A sailor aboard the Tripoli wrote to his family that crew members “eat when possible” and divided portions equally when one person got more than the others. “Supply is about to get really low,” he wrote on March 11. “Morale is going to be at an all-time low.”

Mail suspension blocks care packages

Efforts by families and community groups to send food, hygiene products and other essential items have been disrupted by the indefinite suspension of mail delivery to 27 military zip codes throughout the Middle East.According to Army spokesman Major Travis Shaw, the U.S. Postal Service halted deliveries in early April, citing “airfield closures and other logistics impacts due to the ongoing conflict.” “The suspension will remain in effect until further notice,” Shaw said.Mail already in transit is being held at secure Postal Service or military facilities “for future delivery when service resumes,” he said. No mail is being returned to senders.“Resumption of mail service is dependent on the reopening of airspace by civil authorities and the area commander’s assessment of regional transportation and delivery stability,” Shaw said.A Texas mother whose son, a Navy sailor, is aboard Tripoli, told USA TODAY she has spent at least $2,000 on care packages. No one has reached out to his son.Karen Turgeon, organizer of the annual Thanksgiving care package drive in Monson, Massachusetts, raced to organize an additional drive for four service members in her community sent to the Middle East. No package has arrived. Her group has instead redirected its efforts to sending cards and flowers to the families of deployed service members.Dawn Penrod, treasurer of the American Legion Auxiliary chapter in Edgewater, Maryland, said she spent an hour at the post office trying to send a care package to her nephew, an Army Reserve member deployed to Bahrain. A postal worker told her she could not send anything to a military address. The package is now kept in his living room.“They were delivering mail and packages all the time,” Penrod said of the previous deployment. “I don’t know why they can’t do it anymore.”

Extended deployment puts pressure on employees

The USS Tripoli has been at sea for more than a month after leaving its home port in Japan to join the Iran war. The 3,500 sailors and Marines aboard Tripoli and two accompanying warships are now tasked with enforcing the U.S. blockade of ships leaving Iranian ports, according to U.S. Central Command.The USS Abraham Lincoln has been deployed for even longer periods. On April 15, USS Gerald Ford broke the record for the longest deployment of any aircraft carrier since the Cold War, spending 295 days at sea. The carrier returned to Naval Support Activity Souda Bay on the island of Crete for maintenance on 23 March following a laundry fire and plumbing problems.

no end in sight

The military said there is no end date for the mail suspension despite a ceasefire in the Iran war. USPS spokesman David Coleman said the temporary suspension can be monitored on the Postal Service’s website.“We’re trying to cheer them up at home,” Turgeon said. “We send them an envelope full of things to send whenever they can.”