More than 200 sailors moved off aircraft carrier after multiple suicides

The sailors are moving to a neighborhood Navy set up because the nuclear-powered plane carrier continues to undergo a years-long refueling and overhaul course of on 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 culture on board the Nimitz-class service.

The commanding officer of the carrier, Capt. Brent Gaut, made the choice to permit sailors living on board the ship to maneuver to different accommodations, in keeping with a statement from Naval Air Power Atlantic. On the primary day of the move, which began Monday, more than 200 sailors left the service and moved to a close-by Navy facility.

"The transfer plan will proceed till all Sailors who wish to transfer off-ship have finished so," the assertion said. Although the carrier does not have its full complement of approximately 5,000 sailors, the ship still has between 2,000 and three,000 sailors residing aboard in the course of the overhaul process.

The ship's command is working to identify sailors who may "benefit from and need the help providers and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) programs" which are out there on local Navy services. The Navy is in the strategy of setting up "non permanent accommodations" for these sailors, in response to an earlier assertion from Naval Air Pressure Atlantic.

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

Results from the Navy's investigation into the deaths are expected this week, Admiral John Meier, the commander of US Naval Air Pressure Atlantic, informed 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 instantaneous trigger? Was there a linkage between these events? I expect that to report out this week, and I will not presuppose the end result of that report," Meier said.

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

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

The sprint staff was "on board for a complete week, and so they put out a report that recognized some things to add to our investigative work," Meier added.

The deaths aboard the provider prompted Rep. Elaine Luria, a 20-year Navy veteran whose district encompasses multiple military facilities, to write down a letter to the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael Gilday, demanding speedy action to ensure the safety of the crew.

"Each 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 vital concern that requires rapid and stringent inquiry," Luria wrote last week, noting that her office has received complaints about the high quality of life aboard the ship and a poisonous atmosphere.