Greater than 200 sailors moved off plane provider after a number of suicides

The sailors are shifting to a neighborhood Navy installation as the nuclear-powered aircraft service continues to undergo a years-long refueling and overhaul process on the shipyard in Newport Information in Virginia. Over the past 12 months, seven members of the crew have died, including 4 by suicide, prompting the Navy to open an investigation into the command climate and culture on board the Nimitz-class provider.

The commanding officer of the provider, Capt. Brent Gaut, made the choice to allow sailors residing on board the ship to maneuver to other accommodations, in line with 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 transfer plan will proceed until all Sailors who want to transfer off-ship have finished so," the assertion said. Though the provider doesn't have its full complement of roughly 5,000 sailors, the ship nonetheless has between 2,000 and three,000 sailors residing aboard in the course of the overhaul process.

The ship's command is working to establish sailors who could "benefit from and need the support services and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) applications" that are available on local Navy amenities. The Navy is within the technique of setting up "short-term lodging" for these sailors, in response to an earlier assertion from Naval Air Power Atlantic.

"Leadership is actively implementing these and pursuing numerous further morale and private well-being measures and support providers to members assigned to USS George Washington."

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

"We have assigned an investigating officer to look into that and to essentially to look into the proximate cause. Was there an immediate trigger? Was there a linkage between these events? I count on 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 tradition," Meier said.

To respond to the three suicides in April, the Navy added sources to the ship, including a "ship psychologist," "resiliency counselors," and "a 13-person sprint crew, which is a special intervention staff for instances like this," Meier stated.

The sprint staff was "on board for an entire week, and so they put out a report that recognized some things 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 a number of army services, to write a letter to the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael Gilday, demanding fast motion to ensure the protection of the crew.

"Every of those deaths is a tragedy, and the variety of incidents inside a single command, which incorporates as many as 4 sailors taking their own lives, raises important concern that requires fast and stringent inquiry," Luria wrote last week, noting that her workplace has acquired complaints about the high quality of life aboard the ship and a poisonous environment.