In a recently released report, the Department of Defense Inspector General found just under 30%of Navy commands did not have a complete plan in place to deal with sailors who are contemplating suicide.
Units didn’t have crisis response plans tailored to their units, or they lacked critical information, such as local contacts and resources, said Bryan Clark, Assistant Inspector General.
“Commanders gave various different reasons. Many didn't know that they were required to do it. Others said - well, you know, it's hard to have that plan when I don't have the resources,” he said.
Congress ordered an Inspector General's Report after two clusters of suicides in 2022 in Hampton Roads, including on board the USS George Washington, which was in maintenance, and at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center. The incidents triggered the Navy to adopt a series of reforms.
Having a crisis plan tailored to a command is particularly important to the Navy. Resources can be vastly different depending on whether a sailor is based on shore or at sea, as well as the size of the ship, Clark said.
On average, the Navy takes three weeks to move a sailor back to shore after they experience a crisis. The service also has a difficult time maintaining lines of communication between ships and mental health care providers based on shore, he said.
The Navy increased its budget for mental health and suicide prevention from $43 million in 2023 to $122 million in 2025. The service is still struggling to hire and train enough mental health professionals to cover the fleet. As the Navy trained counselors, chaplins continue to fill the gap, Clark said.
“There's just not enough medical professionals who specialize in mental health care in the Navy,” he said. “That's something they try to recruit, but that is a challenge that they face.”
The report redacted a section focused specifically on MARMC, where a cluster of sailors on limited duty died by suicide. An unnamed official told the Inspector General that Navy Regional Maintenance Centers were so overwhelmed that they had to assign staff to track sailors on limited duty to ensure they went to their medical appointments. In the last two years, the Navy has taken steps to reform the process.
