Emily
Editor, Senior Moderator
We have our priorities wrong if we don't have money to get sailors out of a toxic environment while a ship is overhauled.
https://www.military.com/daily-news...ring-of-suicides-single-aircraft-carrier.html
10 Deaths in 10 Months: String of Suicides on a Single Aircraft Carrier
20 Apr 2022
Military.com | By Konstantin Toropin
On the morning of April 11, Capt. Brent Gaut, the commander of the USS George Washington -- an aircraft carrier undergoing major shipyard work at Newport News, Virginia -- got on the ship's intercom.
Two sailors had died on April 9 and 10, and Gaut was alerting the crew that those deaths were the eighth and ninth suicides the ship had experienced in nine months, three sailors who heard the announcement told Military.com on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation.
One explained that Gaut, talking to the crew first thing in the morning, went on to tell sailors to reach out and talk to someone if they needed help and that resources were available to them. That sailor described it as what "they say after they have a suicide every time."
Four days after the announcement, another sailor was "found unresponsive on board the ship," a Navy spokesperson confirmed to Military.com, and the sailor later died at a hospital in Newport News.
Two of the sailors who spoke with Military.com said that Gaut later told the crew that the latest death was a member of the ship's security team, who had a self-inflicted wound.
Suicides have risen sharply in the military. In 2020, 384 active-duty service members died by suicide, a 44% increase from 2015. Since 2014, 4,842 service members have killed themselves. In a recent hearing, congressional lawmakers said the military is not doing nearly enough to prevent these deaths. Despite the persistence of the problem, a cluster of suicides like Gaut described to his crew is still highly unusual.
Asked about the reports from members of the crew, a Navy spokesperson did not confirm or deny Gaut's remarks, instead outlining a total of seven deaths, four of which had not previously been disclosed by the service.
The fact that the carrier is in the shipyards -- and for far longer than originally planned -- has created a difficult environment, according to the sailors who spoke to Military.com...
...
George Washington crew members who don't have a housing allowance or otherwise live off ship had to move back aboard last year despite the fact that the carrier is still being worked on, all three sailors noted.
"They live in a construction zone," one sailor said. "There's grinding, needle gunning, there's always problems with ventilation, there's always problems with hot water," they went on.
Two of the sailors recalled that, during the winter months, the lack of ventilation meant that the ship got so cold the epoxy-covered floor would crackle underfoot...
https://www.military.com/daily-news...ring-of-suicides-single-aircraft-carrier.html
10 Deaths in 10 Months: String of Suicides on a Single Aircraft Carrier
20 Apr 2022
Military.com | By Konstantin Toropin
On the morning of April 11, Capt. Brent Gaut, the commander of the USS George Washington -- an aircraft carrier undergoing major shipyard work at Newport News, Virginia -- got on the ship's intercom.
Two sailors had died on April 9 and 10, and Gaut was alerting the crew that those deaths were the eighth and ninth suicides the ship had experienced in nine months, three sailors who heard the announcement told Military.com on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation.
One explained that Gaut, talking to the crew first thing in the morning, went on to tell sailors to reach out and talk to someone if they needed help and that resources were available to them. That sailor described it as what "they say after they have a suicide every time."
Four days after the announcement, another sailor was "found unresponsive on board the ship," a Navy spokesperson confirmed to Military.com, and the sailor later died at a hospital in Newport News.
Two of the sailors who spoke with Military.com said that Gaut later told the crew that the latest death was a member of the ship's security team, who had a self-inflicted wound.
Suicides have risen sharply in the military. In 2020, 384 active-duty service members died by suicide, a 44% increase from 2015. Since 2014, 4,842 service members have killed themselves. In a recent hearing, congressional lawmakers said the military is not doing nearly enough to prevent these deaths. Despite the persistence of the problem, a cluster of suicides like Gaut described to his crew is still highly unusual.
Asked about the reports from members of the crew, a Navy spokesperson did not confirm or deny Gaut's remarks, instead outlining a total of seven deaths, four of which had not previously been disclosed by the service.
The fact that the carrier is in the shipyards -- and for far longer than originally planned -- has created a difficult environment, according to the sailors who spoke to Military.com...
...
George Washington crew members who don't have a housing allowance or otherwise live off ship had to move back aboard last year despite the fact that the carrier is still being worked on, all three sailors noted.
"They live in a construction zone," one sailor said. "There's grinding, needle gunning, there's always problems with ventilation, there's always problems with hot water," they went on.
Two of the sailors recalled that, during the winter months, the lack of ventilation meant that the ship got so cold the epoxy-covered floor would crackle underfoot...
