CNN reported yesterday that it had obtained a letter from Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in which Cao reported that while it was deployed in combat actions against Iran, eight sailors assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier battle group attempted suicide, including one who jumped from the carrier itself but was rescued and another who was pulled from the edge of the deck by other sailors. The carrier and its escort vessels are manned by somewhat more than 6,000 sailors.

“Eight attempted suicides is incredibly high,” one US military official told CNN, noting recent carrier strike group deployments have had one or two per year. “The strain of combat ops is much higher than normal deployments. No port calls, constant alerts, etc.”

The Navy previously said in a statement to CNN, “We have not observed an increase in suicidal ideation or attempts aboard the ship. We take every service member’s well-being seriously and have religious, medical and mental health professionals available to assess and address concerns as they arise.”

A US official also previously told CNN that the Navy does not believe there is a correlation between deployment length and thoughts of self-harm, and that man overboard incidents are not unique to this group.