Greater than 200 sailors moved off aircraft provider after multiple suicides

The sailors are moving to a local Navy installation because the nuclear-powered plane carrier continues to undergo a years-long refueling and overhaul course of at the shipyard in Newport News 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 local weather and tradition on board the Nimitz-class carrier.

The commanding officer of the service, Capt. Brent Gaut, made the decision to allow sailors living on board the ship to move to different lodging, in line with a statement from Naval Air Force Atlantic. On the first day of the move, which started Monday, more than 200 sailors left the provider and moved to a nearby Navy facility.

"The transfer plan will continue until all Sailors who wish to move off-ship have completed so," the statement stated. Though the carrier doesn't have its full complement of approximately 5,000 sailors, the ship still has between 2,000 and 3,000 sailors living aboard during the overhaul course of.

The ship's command is working to determine sailors who may "benefit from and desire the support services and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) applications" which can be accessible on local Navy facilities. The Navy is in the strategy of setting up "short-term lodging" for these sailors, in line with an earlier statement from Naval Air Force Atlantic.

"Leadership is actively implementing these and pursuing quite a lot of extra morale and personal well-being measures and support companies 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 Power Atlantic, advised reporters throughout a media roundtable on Tuesday.

"We've assigned an investigating officer to look into that and to really to look into the proximate cause. Was there an immediate set off? Was there a linkage between those events? I count on that to report out this week, and I won't presuppose the outcome of that report," Meier said.

The investigation is one in all two the US Navy is conducting. The second investigation has a "much broader scope" and focuses on "command climate, command culture," Meier mentioned.

To answer the three suicides in April, the Navy added sources to the ship, together with a "ship psychologist," "resiliency counselors," and "a 13-person sprint staff, which is a particular intervention workforce for situations like this," Meier stated.

The sprint team was "on board for a whole week, they usually put out a report that recognized some issues 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 amenities, to put in writing a letter to the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael Gilday, demanding rapid motion to ensure the safety of the crew.

"Each of those deaths is a tragedy, and the number of incidents within a single command, which includes as many as four sailors taking their own lives, raises important concern that requires fast and stringent inquiry," Luria wrote final week, noting that her workplace has received complaints in regards to the high quality of life aboard the ship and a poisonous ambiance.