{"id":45045,"date":"2023-01-11T21:04:38","date_gmt":"2023-01-11T21:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/01\/11\/it-keeps-us-awake-navy-leaders-say-sailor-suicides-are-huge-concern\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:56:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:56:27","slug":"it-keeps-us-awake-navy-leaders-say-sailor-suicides-are-huge-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2023\/01\/11\/it-keeps-us-awake-navy-leaders-say-sailor-suicides-are-huge-concern\/","title":{"rendered":"It \u2018keeps us awake\u2019: Navy leaders say sailor suicides are huge concern"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ARLINGTON, Va. \u2014 The Navy\u2019s most senior officer and enlisted sailor said suicides across the fleet are a major concern that they are attempting to address, weeks after the release of the investigation into multiple deaths by suicide<\/a> aboard the aircraft carrier George Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service is facing challenges filling positions for mental health providers, which coincides with a national shortage, so the Navy is eyeing ways to recruit more mental health technicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMental health is a vexing problem for us,\u201d Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said Tuesday at the annual Surface Navy Association conference. \u201cAnd we \u2026 continue to put resources against it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent efforts to improve mental health in the service include permanently embarking chaplains aboard destroyers \u2014 one of the \u201cbest things\u201d the Navy has launched recently, according to the commander of Naval Surface Forces, Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener<\/a>. The initiative was a shift from chaplains only joining destroyers during work ups as \u201cship riders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Gilday said current efforts aren\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe connectedness between us and amongst us is really, critically important,\u201d Gilday said. \u201cThe first line of defense even goes below chief petty officers in terms of understanding, or trying to understand, what\u2019s going on in the day-to-day lives of our shipmates. And if anything, our message is, \u2018Stick around. We need you. We can help you.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are multiple ways that we can do it, yet it\u2019s still a vexing problem because people still choose to take their lives,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so I would tell you, that\u2019s what keeps us awake at night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gilday said he\u2019s open to ideas to address the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Administering mental health exams is easier in some communities \u2014 such as explosive ordnance disposal units and Navy SEALs \u2014 than others, he noted. Even so, the Navy is aiming to improve mental health capabilities, Gilday said, and the service is maxing out the number of corpsman sent to school to become behavioral health technicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\t