Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier that had several cases of suicide describe it as uninhabitable

The complaints about the aircraft carrier where there were several suicides 3:41

(CNN) -- 

The commanding officer stood before sailors from the security team of the USS George Washington.

One of his own, Xavier Sandor, had taken his own life a few weeks earlier, in mid-April, and the captain had gone down to talk to the nearly 110 young people who worked side by side with him.

The conversation with Capt. Brent Gaut lasted two hours, according to four attending sailors who spoke to CNN.

Gaut recognized what the sailors had felt for months.

Gaut said the crew had returned to the carrier too soon, the sailors recalled, but that it was too late to turn back.

Another sailor told CNN that Gaut spoke into the ship's entire speaker system, known as 1MC or 1 Main Circuit, about two months ago and said the ship, which had undergone major maintenance, was not ready for Sailors moved aboard when the process began last summer.

But he said, "There's no going back now. We can't go back."

CNN has contacted the Navy for comment on Gaut's remarks.

The situation on the aircraft carrier drew national attention when three sailors died by suicide in a single week last month.

But twelve current and former USS George Washington crew members who spoke to CNN described an unsettling situation of a ship with myriad problems, including what many said were dire standards of accommodation on the ship that was effectively a construction site. , concerns about the quality of the food and a feeling that the leadership was not addressing the issues and dismissing the complaints.

But they weren't the only deaths on the carrier while it was docked at the Newport News shipyard.

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The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has been going through its resupply and mid-life review process since the summer of 2017. The process, which was initially expected to last four years, has been delayed multiple times until at least March 2023, it said. The marine.

"Horrible" conditions

All of the sailors who agreed to speak to CNN said the ship was uninhabitable.

Sailors began moving aboard the carrier about a year ago, when the ship had been undergoing refueling and overhaul for four years and was supposed to be ready to house some of the crew.

Even after years of work to prepare the carrier for its next deployment, the ship was still a 24-hour construction zone.

The challenges of life on the ship often affect the youngest sailors the most.

"I was prepared for a s*** situation, but I had no idea it would be in the shipyards," a sailor currently assigned to the George Washington told CNN.

Most of the sailors spoke on condition of anonymity, fearful of the consequences of talking about their own Navy careers or those of his friends.

• Parents of a sailor who took his own life aboard the USS George Washington criticize the US Navy's "ridiculous" response.

In the last 12 months, the crew of the USS George Washington has suffered seven deaths, of which at least four are by 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 enlist in the Navy right out of high school, following in his grandfather's footsteps.

But Xavier once told his father that conditions on the ship were "horrible."

"How do you sleep on an aircraft carrier with the hammering and fumes and smells during the day?" asked John Sandor, demanding an explanation.

"He slept in his car. No sailor should be living on that ship in those conditions."

Suicides become a tragic reality of the aircraft carrier, sailors told CNN, rather than an aberration.

"I wasn't surprised. Being on the ship as long as I've been, it's something I've unfortunately gotten used to," said a second sailor from the USS George Washington.

"I've seen it, it's nothing new."

Aboard the ship, it was nearly impossible to find a quiet place to sleep, sailors said, and the ship suffered from constant power outages and no hot water.

The berths were often unventilated, they said, and the ship's massive metal frame amplified the outside temperature to the point of unbearability.

"I would wake up in the middle of the night freezing," another sailor told CNN.

"I lived in my car in the winter, and it still felt better than my cabin."

The sailor, who says he was 19 at the time, was shocked by the conditions on the ship, far from his expectations of what life was like in the Navy.

He lived in his car on and off for about three weeks, he says, until he got used to the confines of the carrier.

"This is rock bottom," he told CNN, speaking of the situation on the USS George Washington.

Transfer of the crew outside the ship

Earlier this week, the ship's commanding officer announced that about half of the more than 400 crew members living aboard the carrier would move to temporary accommodation off the ship.

Others who wanted to do the same would also have the opportunity.

All the sailors who spoke to CNN agreed that it was the right thing to do.

Asked if the Navy was aware that crew members slept in their cars rather than on the ship, a Naval Air Force Atlantic spokesman said all sailors "are provided with the means to stay," and that the Navy will study whether housing was a factor in the suicides.

"The Navy and congressional leadership have met extensively with the current leadership aboard the USS George Washington, and feel confident that the leadership team is working hard, within and beyond, to care for the crew," he said. Commander Robert Myers in a statement to CNN.

"Our current focus is to ensure that we are providing a safe and healthy environment for our Sailors aboard the GW, and that the leadership team on board has the resources to do so."

One sailor shared with CNN messages from the ship's digital suggestion box, where people could point out problems or share ideas.

Many of the messages 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 do nothing. You just have to suffer in silence," said a fourth sailor assigned to the ship.

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It was even hard to get a full meal at times, several sailors told CNN.

"They would run out of food, and if they had anything left, it was hopefully some cereal or a chicken drumstick that could be undercooked," said the fourth deckhand, who frequently worked night security shifts.

"The prisoners had better food than we had in the army," said a sailor who had recently transferred from the USS George Washington.

The aircraft carrier was his first destination, and he says that for a time he developed an alcohol problem due to the living conditions.

"This is the most unhealthy environment I have ever had to experience," he said.

Two weeks ago, Navy Chief Petty Officer Russell Smith, the highest title for a sailor, visited the George Washington and spoke with the crew.

In a statement released later, he said his visit to the ship was for an "open and honest dialogue" in which he wanted to "learn about the difficulties our sailors are facing" and "understand their concerns."

But when he told the sailors that they should have "reasonable expectations" and that they were not "sleeping in a trench like a Marine might do," some crew members were stunned.

The ship's fourth seaman called it "ridiculous and offensive speech."

"That's no reason for us to live this way," said the second seaman.

"Things can be done to fix what we are experiencing."

Another former sailor assigned to the George Washington called the situation on board "unacceptable," especially considering the resources available to the military to deal with living conditions and quality of life.

"This is not Afghanistan, where those circumstances are expected," he said.

"This is Newport News, Virginia."

Research

The Navy launched two investigations after the latest suicides.

The first, which is expected to end soon, looks specifically at recent deaths aboard the aircraft carrier.

The second, broader investigation will examine the climate and culture of command 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," Commander Myers said.

Naval Air Force Atlantic Commander Admiral John Meier said the ship also added more mental health resources, such as a special intervention team and an additional psychologist.

Crew members of the USS George Washington will also have access to telemental health resources as well as onboard training for younger Sailors.

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Increased mental health resources are long overdue, according to Sailors who spoke to CNN.

Although the ship had a clinical psychologist, sailors said they had to wait months for an appointment.

When Jacob Grella, who spent most of his time in the Navy assigned to the George Washington, learned he was assigned to the carrier, which was a short drive from his family in Richmond, Virginia, he said on Facebook that he was "incredibly happy ".

But he soon turned his occasional weekend trips home into an opportunity to escape the ship.

Grella said he tried to schedule a visit to the ship's psychologist during his last year on the carrier.

When he did, he found himself with "a six-month waiting period," at which point he "would have been almost out of the Navy."

Despite their frustration, Grella and many of the other sailors who spoke to CNN believed a profound change in the ship's culture and climate was possible.

"I think it's definitely possible," he said, "but for that to happen, I think at this point everyone needs to be held accountable. You have to start looking at what's causing the setbacks and who's causing this negative treatment and the mentality of these poor boys."

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