'Congress must investigate': Pics of gross Navy food spark outrage

It's information that families of U.S. Navy sailors just don't want to hear: Their loved ones may be eating lousy food while fighting a war in the Middle East.

Gut-turning pictures of food served to service members on two major U.S. warships fighting the Iran war, shared with USA TODAY by concerned family, prompted an outcry online and outrage among some national leaders. And family and friends of sailors and Marines remain worried that the meals served to their loved ones deployed at sea are not keeping them nourished and well fed.

The Pentagon denies any food issues on ships. But they haven't offered an explanation for the photos and claims of family members, which have prompted at least one U.S. lawmaker to call for a congressional probe.

"This is completely unacceptable and Congress must investigate," Rep. Mike Levin, a Democrat from California, wrote on social media. "The most powerful military in the world is failing to adequately feed its own troops."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said President Donald Trump “is spending billions of dollars every day on this illegal war with Iran while American troops on the front lines say they are going hungry."

USA TODAY first reported in April on the concerns from family members of sailors and Marines on the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Tripoli, an aircraft carrier and amphibious assault ship fighting the Iran war. Photos shared with USA TODAY showed the half-empty cafeteria trays of two service members – one holding a meager scoop of moist shredded meat and a tortilla, the other, a handful of boiled carrots, a dry burger patty and mysterious slice of gray-brown processed meat.

The Navy continues to deny that there's any food shortage aboard the two ships. "Both USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Tripoli have sufficient food onboard to serve their crews with healthy options," the office of the Chief of Naval Operations wrote in an April 17 post on X.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth called USA TODAY's report "more FAKE NEWS from the Pharisee Press. My team confirmed the logistics stats for the Lincoln & Tripoli. Both have 30+ days of Class I supplies (food) on board," he wrote on X.

In the weeks since USA TODAY's report, more family members and friends of sailors and Marines on the two ships have reached out to express concerns about the food their loved ones are eating.

The mother of a sailor on the USS Abraham Lincoln said she was worried that her son had lost 20 pounds since his deployment began months ago. She said he'd eaten a dry meat square atop a small scoop of rice for one recent meal and an off-color burger patty with a side of liquid nacho cheese for another. A man said he'd sent protein powder to a close friend on the USS Tripoli after she said she was too weak to work out.

Newsweek obtained more photos of barren food trays on the USS Abraham Lincoln holding two eggs and a gloppy scoop of porridge, among other skimpy meals.

The suspension of mail deliveries to the ships, which USA TODAY also reported, has been lifted, according to the Navy statement. Family and community members told USA TODAY they had packed boxes full of snacks and calorie-dense foods to bolster a poor diet.

Two defense officials told USA TODAY that the mail suspension was quietly lifted a week after the United States and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on April 7, but it could still take time for packages to reach the ships, one of the officials said.

An 'extreme situation'

Former Navy officials said the pictures of service members' subpar meals looked markedly worse than the quality of eats during their time in Navy service.

"That's telling me that you're down to the stuff you don't normally get," Mike Smith, a retired rear admiral who has deployed aboard an aircraft carrier to the Middle East and commanded an aircraft carrier strike group, said after viewing the pictures.

"You expected to be resupplied and you haven't been, so you're going to your food stores that perhaps have been there longer – perhaps they're not as popular."

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said following USA TODAY's report that it was standard for fresh produce to run out on ships between restocking, but the only complaints he'd received were from sailors who didn't care for the vegetable of the day.

When a ship is at sea for a long time, "you can expect fresh fruits and vegetables to go away in between replenishment," Caudle told reporters on April 20 at Sea Air Space, a defense industry conference.

Caudle said sailors had not complained about the quality of the food, apart from what he called “tactical complaints."

"If today's main vegetable is Brussels sprouts, and that's not a big favorite of the sailors, somebody may say we don't like Brussels sprouts," he said.

The Navy declined to invite USA TODAY to a news briefing with the chief of naval operations and barred its reporter from entering.

A defense official confirmed that sailors and Marines are eating more dried and canned food. If they take the options offered to them, they will be sufficiently fed from a nutritional standpoint, but they may be eating less of it because of the poor taste, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

After USA TODAY's report, the Navy also released 19 sleek, professionally produced photos it said accurately showed food service aboard the two ships – beaming cooks, frying lo mein noodles and sailors serving themselves at a plentiful salad bar.

Were the mouthwatering pictures released by the Navy an accurate depiction of food served aboard the two ships? One could question that, the defense official said.

The Navy, the Pentagon, and U.S. Central Command declined further comment.

Strait of Hormuz puts stress on supply chains

Former Navy officials said that supply chain issues, potentially worsened by Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz, could be forcing sailors to go for longer than normal without seeing fresh fruits and veggies.

After the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, the country retaliated by choking off the flow of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic through the key shipping channel remains far lower than before the war, as both Iran and the United States have seized ships near it in recent days and Trump has said the Navy will seize and board ships visiting Iranian ports.

U.S. Navy ships can still restock in motion from supply ships that cruise alongside or helicopters that drop off supplies. But the close-off of the Strait may have stressed out supply chains and delayed resupplies, the former officials said.

A person familiar with current naval operations, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Navy's logistics are likely stressed, and its supply chains are not as agile or flexible as they should be.

Smith, the retired admiral, said the Navy could be in an "extreme situation when it comes to resupplies."

"It wouldn't surprise me that they just hadn't planned for this level of demand on the system."

The Navy’s inability to access ports inside the Persian Gulf, which lies beyond the Strait, might have caused "some disruption," said Matthew Fenton, a retired captain who served in the Navy for three decades.

During Fenton’s time working in the Middle East with Military Sealift Command, which transports supplies to Navy ships, the Navy often made purchasing arrangements in advance with ports in the Persian Gulf, like Dubai’s Jebel Ali, the largest container port hub in the region.

"It may very well be that they have to shift their procurement of things to places outside of the Strait of Hormuz," Fenton said.

Fenton estimated that Navy ships would normally keep at least 15 days' worth of fresh food on board. He said that the Navy had always placed a “high priority” on feeding its sailors during his time serving, and concerns from family members in USA TODAY’s report were "not consistent with my experience" in the Navy.

Both the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Tripoli were also diverted from deployments in the Pacific Ocean to the Middle East, keeping them at sea for far longer than planned. The USS Gerald Ford, another aircraft carrier deployed to the war, withdrew to a base in Crete for repairs after a laundry fire broke out on board as the ship hit a record 295 days on deployment.

A third aircraft carrier arrived in the Middle East on April 23, bringing the number of sailors and Marines in the region to more than 15,000, according to U.S. Central Command.