乔治华盛顿号航空母舰上空，10月3日--扩音器里响起紧急警报，达蒙·丹纳德和乔治·华盛顿号航空母舰甲板上的其他水手正在匆忙行动。23岁的丹纳德正在准备将炸弹装载到飞机上，他的机组人员正在赶往各自的位置。
ABOARD USS GEORGE WASHINGTON, Oct 3 - An emergency alert blares from a loudspeaker, and Damon Dennard and other sailors on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington are scrambling. Dennard, 23, is readying bombs for loading onto aircraft as his crewmates race to their positions.
“这是一件大事，”航空秩序员飞行员学徒丹纳德说。警报结束后，他吸了口气，坐在其中一枚炸弹上，开玩笑说他可能预计部署会更容易。
"It has been eventful," says Dennard, an aviation ordnanceman airman apprentice. Once the alert ends, he takes a breath, sits on one of the bombs and jokes that he probably expected an easier deployment. "It's crazy, but at the end of the day, it's work.
“这很疯狂，但归根结底，这是工作。仅此而已“丹纳德是路透社九月份采访的数十名水手之一，当时他罕见地参观了一艘对伊朗战争至关重要的美国军舰。这次访问是在一个特别紧张的时刻开始的，就在三天前，美国军方炸毁了五艘伊朗油轮，以报复伊朗袭击一艘美国海军军舰。
That's all." Dennard was one of dozens of sailors Reuters spoke with in September on a rare visit to a US warship that is central to the Iran war. The visit began at a particularly tense moment, just three days after the US military blew up five Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for Iran targeting a US Navy warship.
乔治·华盛顿号在霍尔木兹海峡附近执行的任务没有明确的结束日期，这让船员们感到惊讶，他们于八月底从日本被派去接替另一艘航母。
The George Washington's mission near the Strait of Hormuz — which has no defined end-date — came as a surprise to the crew, who were deployed from Japan at the end of August to relieve another carrier.
这艘航空母舰实际上是一座漂浮的城市，由大约5，000名人员组成，每个人都有自己的使命，从操作现金的Majesta Ochoa到帮助监督飞机发射的“射手”Brody Samaha的中将。从航母弹射器。
The aircraft carrier is effectively a floating city of around 5,000 personnel, each with their own mission, from Majesta Ochoa, who operates a cash, to Lieutenant Commander Brody Samaha, a "shooter" who helps oversee the launch of aircraft from the carrier's catapults.
但船员们表示，当水手们开始工作时，有一种同步感。"这是一场舞蹈，有很多人在互相观察，"萨马哈说，随后补充道，飞行甲板也是"一个非常危险的地方。它毫不宽容。"
But there is a sense of synchronization as the sailors go about their jobs, crew say. "It's a dance, with lots of people checking each other," Samaha says, before adding that the flight deck is also a "very dangerous place to be. It's very unforgiving."
甲板策略 布里安娜·罗伊斯顿，一名夜间飞机调度官，或称"NACHO"，对飞行甲板上危险的机动有着独特的视角。她的工作是监督飞机移动，包括通过巨大的升降机将战斗机送上飞行甲板并送回机库。为此，她使用海军术语中的"灵摆板"——一个甲板的实时模型，上面排列着微型飞机，位置与当前实际位置一致。它看起来有点像策略棋盘游戏。"过去一周我们一直绷紧神经，进行机动操作等等——鉴于发生的一切，"罗伊斯顿说，并补充道"有点疯狂，真的很忙。""让人紧张，但也很有趣。"
BOARD STRATEGY Breana Royston, a night aircraft handling officer, or 'NACHO,' has a unique perspective over the dangerous maneuvering on the flight deck. Her job is to supervise aircraft movement, including bringing fighter jets up to the flight deck and back down to the hangar bay via massive elevators. To do that, she uses what's known in Navy parlance as a "ouija board" — a real-time model of the deck, with miniature aircraft all lined up in their current positions. It looks a little like a strategy board game. "We've been on our toes the last week, maneuvering and everything — with everything that's going on," Royston says, adding it's been "kind of crazy, really busy." "It's nerve-wracking, but it's fun."
伊朗政府多次谴责美国在霍尔木兹海峡的军事行动。9月25日，伊朗外长表示，海峡盛行的不安全感是"美国和以色列政权侵略行动的直接结果"。战争始于2月，由美以联合打击伊朗目标拉开序幕。美国总统唐纳德·特朗普多次表示冲突很快就会结束，但随着冲突持续时间超出最初预期，海军调遣"乔治·华盛顿"号接替另一艘航母"亚伯拉罕·林肯"号。
The Iranian government has repeatedly condemned US military actions in the Strait of Hormuz. On September 25, the Iranian foreign minister said the insecurity prevailing in the strait was the "direct result of the aggressive actions of the United States and the Israeli regime." The war began in February with joint strikes on Iranian targets by the US and Israel. US President Donald Trump has said many times the conflict would soon be over, but as it persisted for longer than initially expected, the Navy turned to the George Washington to relieve another carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln.
8月，针对"林肯"号自2025年11月出海以来条件恶化、士气低落和自杀未遂的报道，美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯称这些说法"歪曲了现实"，赞扬了忍受艰苦条件的水兵们。
In August, in response to reports of deteriorating conditions, low morale and suicide attempts on the Lincoln, at sea since November 2025, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the accounts "misrepresented" the reality, praising sailors who endure austere conditions.
尽管如此，长期部署仍会给船员的心理健康带来巨大压力，尤其是在战时，这对任何海军都是一大挑战。水手们必须保持警戒和备战状态，由于面临来自伊朗的无人机和导弹袭击威胁，“乔治·华盛顿”号上的水手更是如此。
Still, extended deployments can pose enormous strain on crews’ mental health, particularly in wartime, and are a challenge for any navy. Sailors must maintain a state of alert and readiness, heightened in the case of the George Washington due to the threat of drone and missile attack from Iran.
“士气对我们至关重要，”第5航母打击群指挥官杰弗里·希姆斯少将表示。希姆斯谈到了确保船员能够与家人联系并收发邮件。
"Morale is really important to us," said Rear Admiral Jeffrey Heames, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 5. Heames talked about ensuring the ability of the crew to contact home and receive mail.
希姆斯说：“其中一些因素会影响水手们在这种环境下的表现。这些都是我重点关注的领域。”
"Some of those things affect how sailors hold up out in this kind of environment," Heames said. "They are huge focus areas for me."
路透社采访了水兵德安德烈·库克，当时他正通过视频通话与家中的妻子联系。妻子腰间抱着他们年幼的女儿之一。库克说，离家很难熬，但他补充道：“距离让感情更坚固。”路透社获准登上“乔治·华盛顿”号采访，条件是不披露任何作战细节，包括航母的确切位置。
Reuters spoke with Seaman Deandre Cook as he checked in with his wife back home on a video call. She was holding one of their young daughters on her hip. It was hard being away from his family, Cook said, but added: "The distance makes the relationship stronger." Reuters was given access to the USS George Washington under the condition that no operational details would be disclosed, including the exact location of the aircraft carrier.
成长 当战斗机在头顶甲板上轰鸣起飞时，“乔治·华盛顿”号数百名船员聚集在一起，举行仪式纪念2001年9月11日袭击事件25周年——这一事件许多船员年纪太小，根本无法记事。
GROWING UP As jets thundered off the carrier's deck above them, hundreds of members of the George Washington's crew gathered for a ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks — an event many of them were too young to remember.
基地组织对纽约和华盛顿的袭击将美国推入了长达二十年的战争，派遣大军前往阿富汗、伊拉克、叙利亚等地。许多特朗普的支持者曾希望中东战争已成往事。
Al Qaeda's attacks on New York and Washington propelled the US into two decades of war that sent troops to Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. Many supporters of Trump had hoped Middle East wars were a thing of the past.
一名水手领唱国歌后，舰上牧师本·加勒特带领祈祷，全体船员低头默祷。加勒特说：“帮助我们缅怀先行者。”
After a sailor sang the national anthem, the chaplain on board, Ben Garrett, delivered a prayer as the assembled crew bowed their heads. "Help us honor those who have gone before us," Garrett said.
加勒特后来告诉路透社，许多船员仍在学习成长的基本课题，包括耐心、处理人际关系和职业期望等技能。
Garrett later told Reuters that many of the crew members are still learning the basics of growing up, including skills like patience, managing relationships and career expectations.
“这艘船很大一部分的年龄在19岁至24岁之间，”罗马天主教神父加勒特说。“所以他们在这里试图弄清楚自己是一个成年人。加勒特补充说：“有时水手参军是为了逃离小镇或家乡的情况。
"A huge percentage of this ship are between the ages of 19 and 24 years old," said Garrett, a Roman Catholic priest. "So they're trying to figure out being an adult while they're out here." Sometimes sailors enlist to get away from a small town or a situation back home, Garrett added.
加勒特说：“但后来他们来到这里，意识到他们可能一直试图摆脱的一些事情，他们把它们带来了。”
"But then they come here and they realize that some of the things they might have been trying to get away from, they brought it with them," Garrett said.
海军少校布赖恩·拉斯利说，乔治·华盛顿号上的人口比他的家乡密苏里州弗雷德里克镇的人口还要多，2020年人口普查时弗雷德里克镇的人口为4,429人。
Lieutenant Commander Brian Lasley said there were more people on the George Washington than back in his hometown of Fredericktown, Missouri, whose population was 4,429 in the 2020 census.
24岁的Camren Pollard是一名三级内部通信电工，他说，在看到老同事对他以前的工作不满意后，他一时冲动决定加入海军。“我想改变我生活中的事情，”他说。
Camren Pollard, 24, an interior communications electrician third class, said he joined the Navy on a spur-of-the-moment decision after seeing older coworkers unhappy in his previous job. "I wanted to change things in my life," he said. "My mom freaked out more than anything. My little brother thought it was kind of cool."
“我妈妈比什么都害怕。我弟弟觉得挺酷的。然而，对波拉德来说，“我并没有想太多。对我来说是工作。“路透社
For Pollard, however, "I don't think about it a whole lot. It's work for me." REUTERS