More than 200 sailors moved off aircraft carrier after a number of suicides

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

The commanding officer of the service, Capt. Brent Gaut, made the decision to allow sailors dwelling on board the ship to move to different accommodations, in keeping with an announcement from Naval Air Force Atlantic. On the primary day of the move, which started Monday, greater than 200 sailors left the service and moved to a nearby Navy facility.

"The move plan will continue till all Sailors who wish to move off-ship have performed so," the statement mentioned. Although the service doesn't have its full complement of approximately 5,000 sailors, the ship nonetheless has between 2,000 and three,000 sailors residing aboard in the course of the overhaul course of.

The ship's command is working to determine sailors who might "profit from and desire the assist services and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) applications" which are obtainable on native Navy services. The Navy is in the means of organising "temporary lodging" for these sailors, in accordance with an earlier statement from Naval Air Drive Atlantic.

"Leadership is actively implementing these and pursuing a number of further morale and private well-being measures and support companies 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, advised reporters throughout a media roundtable on Tuesday.

"We've 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 those 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 in every of two the US Navy is conducting. The second investigation has a "a lot broader scope" and focuses on "command climate, command tradition," Meier mentioned.

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

The sprint group was "on board for a whole week, and so they put out a report that identified some issues so as 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 a number of navy amenities, to write a letter to the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael Gilday, demanding rapid action to make sure the security of the crew.

"Each of these deaths is a tragedy, and the variety of incidents inside a single command, which includes as many as four sailors taking their own lives, raises significant concern that requires instant and stringent inquiry," Luria wrote last week, noting that her office has acquired complaints concerning the high quality of life aboard the ship and a toxic atmosphere.