According to the Navy, more than 200 sailors have been evacuated off the USS George Washington aircraft carrier following repeated suicides among the crew, including three in less than a week in April.
The personnel are being relocated to a nearby Navy station while the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier undergoes a multi-year refueling and maintenance at the shipyard in Newport News, Virginia. Seven crew members have died in the last year, four of them by suicide, forcing the Navy to launch an investigation into the command atmosphere and culture on board the Nimitz-class carrier.
According to a statement from Naval Air Force Atlantic, the carrier’s commanding officer, Capt. Brent Gaut, took the decision to enable sailors residing on board the ship to relocate to alternate lodgings. More than 200 sailors left the carrier on the first day of the relocation, which began on Monday, and were transferred to a nearby Navy base.
According to the announcement, “the relocation plan will continue until all Sailors who choose to relocate off-ship have done so.” Although the ship does not yet have its full complement of around 5,000 sailors, between 2,000 and 3,000 sailors are currently staying aboard while the ship is being overhauled.
The ship’s leadership is looking for sailors who may “benefit from and seek the support services and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) programs” offered by nearby Navy facilities. According to an earlier statement from Naval Air Force Atlantic, the Navy is in the process of establishing “temporary accommodations” for these sailors.
“Leadership is aggressively implementing these, as well as pursuing a number of other morale and personal well-being initiatives, as well as support services to sailors deployed aboard the USS George Washington.”
The fatalities aboard the carrier spurred Rep. Elaine Luria, a 20-year Navy veteran whose district includes many military bases, to write a letter to Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday requesting immediate action to assure the crew’s safety.
Each of these deaths is a tragedy, and the number of incidents within a single command, including as many as four sailors committing suicide, raises significant concern that necessitates an immediate and thorough investigation,” Luria wrote last week, noting that her office has received complaints about the ship’s quality of life and a toxic atmosphere.