{"id":31404,"date":"2021-03-10T03:41:37","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T03:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/03\/10\/sailors-say-this-submarine-is-being-ravaged-by-bed-bugs\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:21:10","slug":"sailors-say-this-submarine-is-being-ravaged-by-bed-bugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2021\/03\/10\/sailors-say-this-submarine-is-being-ravaged-by-bed-bugs\/","title":{"rendered":"Sailors say this submarine has been ravaged by bedbugs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The crew of the fast-attack submarine Connecticut has been subjected to a bedbug infestation in their racks, and sailors assigned to the sub allege that the boat\u2019s command has been slow to fix the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The infestation issue began while the sub was taking part in ICEX 2020<\/a> in the Arctic Ocean in March 2020 and continued during a deployment last year, according to a Connecticut petty officer who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had bedbugs for a year now,\u201d the petty officer said. \u201cSailors complained about getting bitten in the racks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are terrified of getting bit,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While sailors allege they battled bedbugs for most of 2020, Cmdr. Cynthia Fields, a Naval Submarine Forces Pacific spokeswoman, said the boat\u2019s command first reported the issue in December, and that the \u201cphysical presence\u201d of bedbugs wasn\u2019t found onboard until Feb. 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNavy criteria for treating submarines or ships requires physical presence of bedbugs to establish existence,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petty officer said the command initially didn\u2019t believe sailor bedbug claims because \u201cwe didn\u2019t have proof.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily inspections have commenced, all berthing spaces have been searched and mattresses have been inspected, Fields said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linens and privacy curtains have been laundered or replaced, and Navy entomologists have come onboard to monitor efforts that include \u201cdeadly countermeasures,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Navy takes the safety and health of its sailors very seriously,\u201d Fields said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A bed bug caught aboard the fast-attack submarine Connecticut by one of the crew. (Photo provided to Navy Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But according to two petty officers assigned to Connecticut, the boat has been dealing with bedbugs since at least the time of the ICEX event in March 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It got so bad that some crew members took to sleeping in chairs or on the floor of the crew\u2019s mess to escape the elusive bloodsuckers during their deployment, said one petty officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople were getting eaten alive in their racks,\u201d said the petty officer, who alleges that the infestation spread to several enlisted berthing spaces and at least one officer state room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe best way to put it would probably be \u2018employee abuse,\u2019 but that\u2019s not really a thing in the Navy, I guess,\u201d another petty officer who also requested anonymity for fear of retribution said of leadership\u2019s response to the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One petty officer said he has contacted the Naval Inspector General and reached out to Navy Times because leadership hasn\u2019t adequately addressed the issue, and sub life is stressful enough without bedbugs and the loss of sleep the insects brought to the crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sailors already share racks in the sub\u2019s close quarters, and fatigue takes on added consequence when underway in a metal tube far below the surface, he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf someone\u2019s sleep deprived because they\u2019re in the rack getting eaten alive by bedbugs, he could fall asleep at (the controls) and run us into an underwater mountain,\u201d the petty officer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petty officer said he also worries that fellow crew members will take bedbugs home to their spouses and kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t\u2019 want them to take bedbugs home,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have to pay for fumigators and their families will suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The crew of the fast-attack submarine Connecticut enjoys ice liberty after surfacing in the Arctic Circle during Ice Exercise, or ICEX, 2020. Sailors say the boat’s bed bug infestation became apparent after this exercise in March 2020. (Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fields, the SUBPAC spokeswoman, said the command \u201cacted swiftly\u201d when reports of bedbugs were first made in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInspections by the ship\u2019s Corpsman did not find any of the classic indications of bedbugs, and were backed up by inspection from Preventative Medicine Technicians on Dec. 21,\u201d she said. \u201cDespite follow on inspections by certified inspectors that found no evidence of bedbugs, the command continued to pursue resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to one petty officer who alleges that bedbugs were an issue on the sub for most of 2020, the command being unable to mitigate the bedbugs during deployment was understandable given the limited resources while underway, but leadership also didn\u2019t seem to believe the crew when it came to the infestation until sailors caught a few of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

bedbugs are tiny and tenacious creatures that feed off human blood and are notoriously hard to get rid of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their bites on sleeping humans can produce itchy welts, and they get their blood by piercing the skin with an elongated beak, according to the University of Kentucky\u2019s Entomology Department<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEngorgement takes about three to 10 minutes, but because the bite is painless, people seldom realize they are being bitten,\u201d according to the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the boat returned to its Washington state home port <\/a>in December, sailors say the command\u2019s responses didn\u2019t fix the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One solution was to steam the racks, so as to hopefully kill the bedbugs, but that didn\u2019t work, sailors said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University of Kentucky notes that steaming alone often will not sufficiently penetrate the fabrics and other materials where bedbugs reside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur steaming efforts throughout a monthlong stand-down proved to be fruitless,\u201d the petty officer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another petty officer said, \u201cit caused the bedbugs to spread around the boat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sailors attempted to tape up the walls and caulk cracks, but the arrangement of racks made it impossible to completely seal up any entry or exit points for the bedbugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creatures can squeeze through openings as wide as a toothpick, according to the University of Kentucky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mattresses were removed and sanitized, one petty officer said, but the bedbugs returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur senior leadership said, \u2018if we clean and sanitize all these, and someone points out bedbugs, they are f*cking lying,\u201d a petty officer alleged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petty officers also allege that the command is forcing sailors to return to sleeping in the racks this week during training, when the entire sub\u2019s crew will be onboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re using us as live bait\u2026to see if (the bedbugs) are still there,\u201d one petty officer said. \u201cThe upper chain of command isn\u2019t going to sleep in those racks. They\u2019re going to make the lower enlisted do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTonight and tomorrow, we are lawfully ordered to sleep in a known infested berthing area in order to record data that\u2019s already been recorded,\u201d another petty officer said Monday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to Navy Times questions about allegations that sailors are being forced back into infested berthing spaces, Fields said that Navy entomologists \u201chave employed authorized countermeasures, and certify that all feasible measures have been taken to control bedbugs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter two applications of Navy approved pesticide sprays, and application of a long-acting diatomaceous dust…entomologists recommended repopulation of berthing,\u201d she said. \u201cAll appropriate countermeasures have been taken with plans firmly in place to address further breakouts underway if they occur.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One petty officer said that sub life and the operations tempo already stress Connecticut\u2019s crew enough, and that morale is on the floor due to the bedbugs and a perceived lack of help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey treat people like parts, and parts like people,\u201d the petty officer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe crew is tired from constant underways, a constant hurry-up-and-push mentality that\u2019s just been going on for years on end,\u201d another petty officer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To give crews a non-infested place to sleep on their duty days while in home port, the command set up a temporary building on the pier, the petty officer said, but the \u201cbunch of stanchions with a tarp set over the top and metal walls with cots\u201d wasn\u2019t comfortable for the sailors, so some slept in chairs, the duty van or in the mess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome people were sleeping on metal diamond decking because they didn\u2019t want to sleep in the racks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sailors assigned to the fast-attack submarine Connecticut say they are being forced to sleep in a pre-fabricated building on the pier on duty days due to the bed bug infestation that has overtaken several berthing areas on the sub. (Photo provided to Navy Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One petty officer also wonders why the command didn\u2019t consider other pierside berthing options for duty sections, such as trailers, a barge or barracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe one they chose was a makeshift building made out of stanchions and tape and World War II-era cots,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s not nearly enough racks for an entire duty section, so people have also put up hammocks to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about that pier berthing, Fields said that \u201capproved berthing has been and will continue to be provided to Connecticut sailors, including pier side berthing for duty personnel while (Navy officials) and the ships Corpsman addressed crew concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correction: an earlier version of this article misstated the command of Cmdr. Cynthia Fields. She is a spokeswoman for Naval Submarine Forces Pacific.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n