Greater than 200 sailors moved off aircraft carrier after multiple suicides

The sailors are moving to a local Navy set up because the nuclear-powered aircraft service continues to undergo a years-long refueling and overhaul process at the shipyard in Newport Information in Virginia. Over the past 12 months, seven members of the crew have died, including four by suicide, prompting the Navy to open an investigation into the command climate and culture on board the Nimitz-class carrier.

The commanding officer of the service, Capt. Brent Gaut, made the decision to permit sailors dwelling on board the ship to move to other accommodations, according to a press release from Naval Air Force Atlantic. On the first day of the transfer, which started Monday, greater than 200 sailors left the carrier and moved to a close-by Navy facility.

"The move plan will proceed till all Sailors who want to move off-ship have achieved so," the statement mentioned. Though the service does not have its full complement of approximately 5,000 sailors, the ship nonetheless has between 2,000 and 3,000 sailors dwelling aboard throughout the overhaul process.

The ship's command is working to determine sailors who may "benefit from and want the help services and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) applications" which are accessible on native Navy facilities. The Navy is in the technique of establishing "non permanent accommodations" for these sailors, in line with an earlier assertion from Naval Air Pressure Atlantic.

"Leadership is actively implementing these and pursuing a variety of additional morale and personal well-being measures and assist companies to members assigned to USS George Washington."

Outcomes from the Navy's investigation into the deaths are anticipated this week, Admiral John Meier, the commander of US Naval Air Pressure Atlantic, instructed reporters during a media roundtable on Tuesday.

"We've assigned an investigating officer to look into that and to essentially to look into the proximate trigger. Was there a direct trigger? Was there a linkage between those events? I anticipate that to report out this week, and I will not presuppose the outcome of that report," Meier said.

The investigation is one among two the US Navy is conducting. The second investigation has a "much broader scope" and focuses on "command local weather, command culture," Meier stated.

To reply to the three suicides in April, the Navy added resources to the ship, together with a "ship psychologist," "resiliency counselors," and "a 13-person dash staff, which is a special intervention workforce for instances like this," Meier stated.

The dash crew was "on board for a complete week, and so they put out a report that identified some things so as to add to our investigative work," Meier added.

The deaths aboard the service prompted Rep. Elaine Luria, a 20-year Navy veteran whose district encompasses multiple navy facilities, to put in writing a letter to the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael Gilday, demanding quick action to make sure the safety of the crew.

"Every of those deaths is a tragedy, and the number of incidents inside a single command, which incorporates as many as four sailors taking their own lives, raises important concern that requires rapid and stringent inquiry," Luria wrote final week, noting that her workplace has obtained complaints about the high quality of life aboard the ship and a toxic ambiance.