NORFOLK, Va. - In a memo, the Secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations said two clusters of suicides among Sailors happened during "organizational drift -a slow erosion over time - conditions that were clearly not right became acceptable."
Three Sailors assigned to USS George Washington took their own lives in the same month last year. A fourth died in January.
Then,last fall four Sailors assigned to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center at Naval Station Norfolk died by suicide ina 28 day period.
On Thursday, the Navy released investigations related to both clusters.
One examined the quality of life for Sailors at the Washington. The other looked into what led to the MARMC suicides.
"Too often it takes a tragic event to bring to light issues that our Sailors have been dealing with for years," said Adm. Daryl Caudle, the commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command.
Amd. Caudle and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy James Honea took questions from reporters about the investigations on Thursday morning.
They were asked why it took the Navy so long to see issues on the Washington.
"I am never going to give you a reason why it takes a large mishap incident, a 9/11 event to make the Navy modernization, which I love, wake up and attack a problem that we should have seen coming," Caudle said. "I'll just tell you. There is no excuse for that."
The Washington has spent years at Newport News Shipbuilding undergoing maintenance. A previously released investigation looked into what led to those suicides.
This report detailed quality of life issues raised by Sailors, including inconvenient parking, a lack of food options, and how Sailors were assigned to a ship undergoing maintenance.
The Navy is now recommending Sailors in their first enlistment are able to deploy if they want.
"We definitely want a Sailor who joined the Navy to go to sea to get that opportunity to see the ocean, get into a port call experience - why that person joined - and not spent that entire tour in a maintenance facility where the ship is being repaired," said Caudle.
The report makes nearly 50 recommendations, some of which the Navy is already doing, but others will take time and funding from Congress.
"It's hard to give you a definitive timeline on when this will all be wrapped up. It's going to take resourcing and working with our partners in Congress to get some funds in place to do the things we're talking about," said Caudle.
In the MARMC investigation, the Navy found four Sailors died by suicide within 28 days of each other, but the investigation says there was no direct connection between the four.
The report makes 25 recommendations and says regional maintenance centers are not well equipped to handle Sailors on limited duty.
It recommends the Navy examine how much more manpower would be needed for MARMC to properly deal with Sailors on limited duty.
"What was exposed in the deep dive of MARMC was how the Navy handles limited duty Sailor assignments," said Caudle.
While HII employees were not interviewed for the Washington investigation, a spokesperson for HII's Newport News Shipbuilding division released a statement saying, "The safety of all who are engaged in our critical national security mission at Newport News Shipbuilding is our utmost priority. NNS has been, and continues to be, aggressively engaged with the Navy and City of Newport News to enhance Quality of Service for Navy sailors and shipbuilders at Newport News Shipbuilding. Specific examples include: improving parking and transportation options; enhancing Wi-Fi and IT services; facility improvements and modifications at buildings used by shipbuilders and the Navy; increased security presence; additional onsite food services; support for regular on-site visits by trained therapy dogs; and regular meetings with the Navy and City of Newport News. As we review the findings of the Navy’s report, we remain committed to working closely with the Navy and all stakeholders on exploring options that continuously improve Quality of Service at NNS. We will continue an open dialogue to support actions the Navy may choose to support sailors at our facilities.”
If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health or thoughts of self-harm, dial 988 for assistance.
