Six months after releasing sweeping reports looking at the root cause of the rash of suicides among sailors in Norfolk, the Navy is chipping away at the recommendations.
After deaths on board the USS Washington and at the Mid Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center, the Navy released reports recommending dozens of changes to improve the living conditions for sailors.
Rear Adml. William Gray announced this week a number of smaller changes, geared mainly to sailors in shipyards. Next year, the Navy will pilot having WIFIalong the waterfront in Newport News to help sailors stay connected.
“It's the 21st century, young sailors have never lived without connectivity or Wi-Fi. And they experience the world through their cell phones and the internet,” Gray said.
The USS Stennis is currently in dry dock, undergoing extended maintenance at Newport News. The ship’s sailors will also have free Wi-Fi on the 30-year-old birthing barge used to house sailors on duty. To make conditions more livable at Huntington Hall, the Navy has lowered the number of junior sailors from three to two per room.
Huntington Ingalls Industries is also revamping the number of food options available in and around its shipyard. After three sailors died by suicide in a month onboard the Stennis, Gray said the Navy had ignored deteriorating conditions at its shipyards.
“Even before the George Washington, the Navy leadership was beginning to see that we had gone a little bit too far right that we needed to make changes,” Gray said.
Many of the ideas are pilot programs which look at improving conditions for sailors in maintenance cycles around the country. The Navy estimates it would cost $90 million just to roll out Wi-Fi in shipyards throughout the system.
