Amid the controversy surrounding the extended deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East, U.S. Central Command (Centcom) commander Adm. Brad Cooper visited the ship Saturday. 

The aircraft carrier has been docked in the area for over 260 days, since last November, drawing recent attention for alleged issues over the mental health of some crew members, as well as reports of poor conditions on board, including moldy showers and rotten food, according to The Hill.  

Centcom issued a statement Saturday about the visit, stating Cooper visited the ship during his 10-day trip to the region where he visited half a dozen countries. 

“The Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is a strong team of high-achieving Americans standing tall with immense, justified pride in everything they accomplished,” Cooper said in the statement. “History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era.”

Centcom also stated that the crew of the Lincoln completed “thousands of combat flights in support of Operation Epic Fury, regional security missions and the ongoing U.S. naval blockade against Iran.”

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao announced Friday that the USS Abraham Lincoln will soon return home from its months-long deployment amid these various concerns, Just the News previously reported. 

There are some 5,000 sailors and Marines on the ship, which had been expected to be deployed until May, but it was extended, Acting Secretary Cao said, because the mission “demanded it.”

Some congressional Democrats have launched inquiries into the conditions on the ship and are demanding an official, bipartisan visit to the carrier.