Twelve current and former members of the USS George Washington crew, observed here off the coast of Chile in 2015, painted a disturbing picture of a ship with countless problems. Three members of the ship’s crew died in a suicide in April. (2nd Class Specialist Adam Henderson, US Navy)
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WASHINGTON – The commander stood in front of the sailors of the USS security team George Washington. One of their own, Xavier Sandor, had taken his own life a few weeks earlier, in mid-April, and the captain had come to talk to about 110 young men and women who worked closely with him.
The conversation with Captain Brent Gaut lasted two hours, according to four sailors present, who spoke to CNN. In it, Gaut admits how sailors have felt for months. He said the crew returned to the aircraft carrier too early, sailors recall, but it was too late to return.
Another sailor told CNN that Gaut spoke on the ship’s speaker system, known as the 1MC or 1 Main Circuit, about two months ago, and said the ship, which was undergoing major maintenance, was not ready to move the sailors. on board when the process began last summer. But he said, “There’s no going back now. We can’t reverse the course.”
CNN asked the Navy to comment on Gaut’s remarks.
The aircraft carrier’s situation caught the country’s attention when three sailors died in a suicide last week. But twelve current and former members of George Washington’s crew who spoke to CNN painted a disturbing picture of a ship with countless problems, including what many said were terrible standards for accommodating the ship, which is actually a construction site. the quality of the food and the feeling that the management does not deal with the problems and does not reject the complaints.
But they were not the only deaths of the carrier, as he remained moored at the Newport News shipyard. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has been undergoing an average period of refueling and overhaul since the summer of 2017. The process, which was originally expected to last four years, has been postponed several times, at least until March 2023, the Navy said.
“Terrible” conditions
The sailors, who agreed to speak to CNN, said the ship was uninhabitable. The sailors began to board the carrier about a year ago, after the ship had been in the process of being reloaded and overhauled for four years and was supposed to be ready to accommodate parts of the crew. Even after years of work to prepare the carrier for its next deployment, the ship remains a 24-hour construction area. Often the challenges of life on a ship hit the youngest sailors the hardest.
“I was ready for an (obscene) situation, but I had no idea it would be in the yards,” a sailor who is currently assigned to George Washington told CNN. Most of the sailors spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing the consequences of talking about their own careers in the Navy or those of their friends.
In the last 12 months, the crew of the USS George Washington has suffered seven deaths, of which at least four have committed suicide, the Navy said. Xavier Sandor, who worked in security on board the ship, according to those who knew him, took his own life on April 15, the third suicide in a week among the crew.
Sandor’s father, John Sandor, said his son was proud to join the Navy right after high school, following in his grandfather’s footsteps. But Xavier once told his father that the ship’s conditions were “terrible.”
“How do you sleep on an aircraft carrier with a hammer, smoke and odors during the day?” John Sandor asked, demanding an explanation. “He will sleep in his car. No sailor should even live on this ship under these conditions.”
Suicides are becoming a tragic reality for the carrier, the sailors told CNN instead of deviating. “I was not surprised. “It’s been something I’ve been used to since I’ve been on the ship,” said George Washington’s second sailor. “I’ve seen it, it’s nothing new.”
It was almost impossible to find a quiet place to sleep on board, the sailors said, and the ship suffered constant power outages and no hot water. They said the berths often lacked ventilation, and the ship’s massive metal structure raised the temperature outside until it became unbearable.
“I would wake up in the middle of the night freezing my ass,” another sailor told CNN. “I lived in my car in the winter and I still felt better than going to bed. The sailor, who says he was 19 at the time, was shocked by the ship’s conditions, far from his expectations of what life was like in the navy. He lived in his car off and on for about 3 weeks, he says, until he gets used to the carrier’s restrictions.
“This is the bottom line,” he told CNN, referring to the USS George Washington situation.
The crew withdrew from the ship
Earlier this week, the ship’s commander announced that about half of the more than 400 crew members living on board the carrier would move to a temporary shelter outside the ship. Others who want to do the same will also be given the opportunity. The sailors who spoke to CNN agreed that this was the right thing to do.
Asked if the Navy was aware that crew members were sleeping in their cars instead of the ship, a spokesman for the US Navy said every sailor was “provided with accommodation” and the Navy would consider whether housing was a factor in the suicides.
“The leadership of the Navy and Congress have met extensively with the current leadership aboard the USS George Washington and feel confident that the leadership team is working hard – within and outside their lifelines – to care for the crew,” said Commander Robert. Myers in a statement to CNN. “Our focus is to ensure that we provide a safe and healthy environment for our seafarers on board GW and that the ship’s management team has the resources to do so.”
A sailor shared with CNN messages from the ship’s digital suggestion box, where people could report problems or share ideas. Many of the publications were categorized as “Quality of Life” and focused on issues such as remote parking, low morale or food. But rarely did anything change, the sailors said.
“Complaints will do nothing. You just have to suffer in silence,” said a fourth sailor assigned to the ship.
Even a complete diet was sometimes difficult to find, many sailors told CNN.
“They would just run out of food, and if they had anything left, it would be – if you’re lucky – some cereal or a little chicken leg, which may or may not be undercooked,” said the fourth sailor, who often worked late night security shifts. .
“Prisoners get better food than we get in the military,” said a sailor who recently transferred from the USS George Washington. The carrier was her first task and she says she has developed an alcohol problem for some time due to living conditions.
“It’s the craziest environment I’ve ever experienced,” she said.
Two weeks ago, Chief of the Navy Russell Smith, the service’s chief sailor, visited George Washington and spoke with the crew. In a statement issued afterwards, he said his visit to the ship was linked to an “open and honest dialogue”, where he wanted to “learn about the difficulties our sailors face” and “understand their concerns”.
But when he told the sailors that they had “reasonable expectations” and that they were not “sleeping in a foxhole, as a Marine can do,” some crew members were amazed. The fourth sailor on the ship called it a “funny, insulting speech.”
“This is not a reason to live the way we live,” said the second sailor. “Things can be done to fix what we’re going through.”
Another former sailor assigned to George Washington called the situation on board “unacceptable”, especially given the resources the military has to deal with living conditions and quality of life.
“This is not Afghanistan, where you expect these circumstances,” he said. “This is Newport News, Virginia.”
Lots of investigations
Following the recent suicides, the Navy has launched two investigations. The first, which is expected to be completed soon, deals in particular with the latest deaths on board the ship. The second, broader investigation will examine the command climate and culture at the Newport News shipyard, including housing, parking and quality of life issues.
The Navy is “confident that our comprehensive investigation and assessment of the command climate and various quality of life issues will identify areas for future improvement, as well as provide recommendations for immediate action,” said Commander Myers.
The commander of the US Atlantic Navy, Admiral John Mayer, said the ship had added more mental health resources, such as a special intervention team and an additional psychologist. Crew members aboard the USS George Washington will also have access to tele-mental health resources and on-board training for junior sailors.
The increase in mental health resources has long been overdue, according to sailors who spoke to CNN. Although the ship had a clinical psychologist, the sailors said they would have to wait months to meet.
When Jacob Grela, who spends most of his time in the George Washington Navy, learned he was assigned to the carrier who was a short drive from his family in Richmond, Virginia, he said on Facebook. that he was “So Terribly Happy.” But it didn’t take long for his occasional weekend trips home to become a chance to escape from the ship.
Grela said he tried to schedule a visit to the ship’s psychologist during his final year on the ship.
When he did, he was greeted with “…
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