San Diego-based USS Abraham Lincoln at center of Iran war strikes

The San Diego-based Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its warships now find themselves in the thick of the U.S. war in Iran that launched over the weekend.

The big picture: Identifiable by the big white "72" on its tower when pierside in Coronado, the 1,100-foot-long Lincoln is one of just 11 Navy carriers, and is meant to be a crown jewel of U.S. military might.

Catch up quick: When deployed, the 36-year-old carrier is a small town in and of itself, hosting roughly 5,500 sailors.

• Some of those sailors are part of the carrier air wing, or CAW in Navy parlance.
• The CAW includes a host of fighter jet squadrons, electronic attack and reconnaissance aircraft and helicopters.
• Powered by two nuclear reactors, carriers can receive food, mail and other supplies at sea, or they make port calls in peacetime to re-up.

The Lincoln quietly left San Diego in November for a deployment to the Indo-Pacific region before being routed to the Middle East, the Union-Tribune reports.

• Carriers like the Lincoln are so prized by the military because they can bring fighter jets close to battles without the need for land bases.
• Lincoln's carrier strike group, or CSG, includes the San Diego-based Navy destroyer ships USS Spruance and USS Pinckney, according to USNI News. Such warships, and others like them in the CSG, are tasked with both offensive operations and defending the carrier itself.
• The Pentagon has confirmed that at least one SD-based warship, the Spruance, has fired Tomahawk missiles in support of the Iran mission, dubbed Operation Epic Fury.

The Lincoln was operating in a complex and evolving battle space even before the attack on Iran commenced.

• One of its fighter jets shot down an Iranian drone that was "aggressively" approaching the carrier in early February as the Lincoln operated in the Arabian Sea, Reuters reported.

Tell us: Are you a Navy spouse with a loved one deployed to the Middle East? How are you managing? Email [email protected] to share your thoughts.