Navy pulls plug on USS Boxer 'tampon crisis' after female sailors reportedly rationed supplies
WASHINGTON, DC: The reports describing female sailors aboard the USS Boxer as running short of basic hygiene products have been flatly rejected by the Navy.
US Naval Forces Central Command said on Sunday, August 16, that claims of a shortage of feminine products aboard the amphibious assault ship were false, pushing back on accounts that had portrayed sailors as rationing supplies during the vessel’s extended deployment.
The command said the Boxer remains stocked and ready for its assigned missions.
Reports emerging of USS Boxer experiencing a shortage in hygiene products for women in uniform are FALSE.
— U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet (@US5thFleet) August 16, 2026
The ship has had four port visits since departing San Diego in March. The crew has been at sea for less than two months since the last port call, and they are stocked with…
Navy rejects false media reports
Naval Forces Central Command addressed the controversy on X. The command said the ship has feminine products available both through the ship’s store and its medical offices.
The Navy also pointed to the Boxer’s recent movements as evidence that the ship has not been operating without opportunities to replenish supplies.
According to the command, the vessel has made four port visits since leaving San Diego in March and had spent less than two months at sea since its most recent port call.
NEW: According to family members, service members on the USS Boxer are running out of feminine hygiene products and no packages have been delivered. pic.twitter.com/PVcdJTFaNe
— Aaron Parnas (@AaronParnas) August 15, 2026
The Navy further said the ship had received two major mail deliveries during August, countering the suggestion that sailors had been left without access to packages and essential supplies.
“Reports emerging of USS Boxer experiencing a shortage in hygiene products for women in uniform are FALSE,” US Naval Forces Central Command said.
The command also stressed that the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group remains “fully equipped and prepared” to carry out its assigned missions.
🇺🇸 Female sailors aboard the USS Boxer have RUN OUT of tampons and are using toilet paper instead.
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) August 16, 2026
A message from a family member, read on air, describes crews who packed for the original deployment and then absorbed extension after extension, with no port calls and no care… https://t.co/OsRJ7RFApe pic.twitter.com/m2DglkWBzk
The statement effectively puts the Navy's version of events in direct opposition to the accounts that had circulated about female sailors allegedly running short of pads and tampons.
Alleged 'tampon crisis' on USS Boxer
The controversy began after a family member of sailors aboard the Boxer contacted media outlets with a very different account of conditions on the ship.
The person claimed that relatives and friends serving aboard the vessel had gone without adequate opportunities to receive care packages and said female sailors were allegedly running out of feminine hygiene products.
NEW: The mental health decline of America's troops is not just an issue on the USS Lincoln. It's an issue on ships across the region.
— Aaron Parnas (@AaronParnas) August 15, 2026
Here's what one mother told me about her son on the USS Boxer: pic.twitter.com/3EbIbvtzmZ
The family member claimed sailors had asked relatives to send additional supplies so they could distribute them among women aboard the ship.
“They were begging us to send them extra pads and tampons so they could share them out,” the family member wrote.
Those allegations had drawn attention partly because of the separate controversy surrounding conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, where sailors and their families have raised concerns about the strain of an unusually lengthy deployment.
The Boxer left San Diego in March and was later deployed to the Middle East as part of the Navy's operations in the region.
