Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao in the crosshairs of Navy families

Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao is in the hot seat.

As the Trump regime deploys the US military as if they were chess pieces instead of human beings, the man facing the most heat is an Asian American, a retired US Navy Captain, since Secretary of Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth couldn't find an admiral he could trust to take the high-profile position of the Secretary of the Navy.

Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao's chief quality is his loyalty to Donald Trump. A former Republican candidate for the US Senate, Cao finds himself in the hot seat for a growing military crisis.

At a high-stakes, emotional town hall meeting August 6 at the Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, Cao faced down over 200 angry, tearful spouses and parents of sailors deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

The ship has been pushed to historic limits in the Middle East, reaching nearly 260 days deployed and shattering records with over 200 consecutive days at sea without a single port call for R&R.

Amid grim reports of severe food shortages, compromised water quality, and physical exhaustion, a mental health catastrophe has taken hold—culminating in reports of at least six sailors attempting to throw themselves overboard into the sea, only to be physically wrestled back to safety by their crewmates.

Instead of reassurance, Cao’s appearance laid bare deep systemic strain and a profound crisis of confidence between military families and top brass.

Raw voices from the Town Hall

For hours, family members confronted Cao directly, venting months of frustration, fear, and heartbreak over what their loved ones are enduring at sea.

One spouse pointed directly at the leadership table, telling Cao, "You have broken trust between us and the leadership."

A grieving parent recounted her daughter's terrifying messages from the ship, sharing that her daughter felt so trapped she "believed she would die aboard the ship" and would never see home again.

Another military wife brought attendees to tears when reading a text message from her husband, a 13-year Navy veteran now placed on medical hold after a suicide attempt, who wrote that he "hopes he doesn't wake up tomorrow."

The roughly 5,000 service members aboard also have dealt with food and water shortages and little time off, with the typical port calls every 30 to 45 days falling by the wayside, according to family members and sailors.

“Nothing to really look forward to at this point,” one sailor told Stars and Stripes, noting that morale is currently so low that service members on the vessel are willing to skip any upcoming stops to return home as soon as possible.

“My son is currently on that ship and listening to him say that he and his shipmates constantly think about jumping off the ship just for relief is so hard to listen to,” one parent told Stars and Stripes in July.

One sailor reportedly jumped off the ship but was recovered and is receiving medical care. The Navy would not classify the incident a suicide attempt. However, Military officials addressed the event as a mental health crisis, coming amid heightened scrutiny over crew exhaustion during the ship's extended deployment of over 250 days. 

In fact, the Navy and Hegseth said all the negative reports coming from the families are false. Hegseth defended the military's handling, calling descriptions of the conditions "completely misrepresented" by media, including reports from the Military Times, considered a reliable  middle of the road outlet.

The USS Abraham Lincoln

Cao attempted to diffuse the anger by announcing that a carrier strike group is being prepared to deploy to the region to relieve the Lincoln.

A few days after that disastrous meeting in San Diego, media reports that the USS George Washington is already streaming to the Middle East from its base in Japan. If those reports are true, the potential hot spot in the West Philippine Sea is more vulnerable for more invasions by China's growing navy and coast guard.

It is not just the USS Abraham Lincoln being affected by the long deployment. An aircraft carrier on a mission is accompanied by a Carrier Strike Group consisting of guided-missile cruisers, destroyers and submarines. The crews of these vessels are also under the same stress as the carrier's crew. All toll, about 7,000 to 7,500 sailors and marines need to be relieved.

Members of Congress, including the representatives of the areas around San Diego, expressed frustration that they were not informed about the meeting between Cao and the carrier families and sent a joint letter asking for more information about the situation and what steps are being taken that other ships will not suffer the same conditions.

US Representatives Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), Ranking Member of the Military and Foreign Affairs Oversight Subcommittee, and Robert Garcia (CA-42), Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee, are demanding answers from the Department of Defense (DOD) about conditions on the USS Lincoln.

“Secretary Hegseth has claimed the rumors of overboard attempts and food rationing are overblown. If conditions are what he says they are and he has nothing to hide, then we will see if the information matches his claims. Our servicemembers are being asked to be away from family for months on end with inadequate conditions. That is unacceptable,” said Ranking Member Subramanyam.

"Sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln are going without food, dealing with contaminated water, and attempting suicide after hundreds of days at sea due to President Trump’s incompetent and disastrous war with Iran. Secretary Hegseth must answer for and improve these unacceptable conditions immediately," said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.

In response to Hegseth's and Trump's defensive statements, the wife of one of the crew members told media outlets:

It's infuriating. I mean, we heard what Hegseth said yesterday, what the president is saying today. It's infuriating, saying, essentially, that families are lying and service members are lying, even though the proof is right here on my phone. It is not fabricated. Nobody is lying. Everybody is — it's infuriating that they're not taking accountability, and not having any sort of sympathy for our service members that they claim to scream and shout that they support, when it's politically, you know, sound for them to use "support our troops, support our troops," until our troops need support, and now suddenly everyone's lying, and it's a fabrication and a misrepresentation? It's infuriating.

Cao is a refugee

Acting Navy Secretary Cao was born in Ho Chi Minh City and fled Vietnam with his family when the US left South Vietnam. The 4-year old Cao arrived in the US  with his refugee family in 1975 and settled in VIrginia.

Cao’s political ascent to top civilian leadership in the Navy was swift. After running as an outspoken, conservative candidate alignment with Trump's "America First" agenda, Cao was named Acting Navy Secretary by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following the abrupt firing of former Secretary John Phelan.

Hegseth felt Phelan was moving too slowly to implement President Donald Trump's urgent shipbuilding reforms and a rocky relationship between his undersecrear Cao, who supported Hegseth.

Tensions flared when Phelan went around Hegseth to pitch major defense ideas —such as building a "Trump-class" battleship— directly to the president. The battleship idea, was contrary to Navy plans moving towards smaller, faster vessels.

Now, the former Special Operations officer is learning that leading the Department of the Navy during an extended conflict requires more than political loyalty—it demands accountability. As the USS Abraham Lincoln remains deployed in dangerous waters with a crew pushed far past the breaking point, Cao is trapped between operational demands overseas and a burning fire of outrage at home.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. If you find this perspective interesting, please repost.