4 Navy Sailors Reportedly Die by Suicide Within Weeks at Same Facility

At least four U.S. Navy sailors assigned to the same facility in Virginia died by suicide in the last few weeks, including one as recently as Saturday, military officials and family members said.

The cluster of suicides has sparked concerns about a fleetwide mental health crisis.

“The four sailors worked for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC), which maintains military ships and is based in Norfolk, Virginia,” NBC News reports.

“I was inundated with the amount of hopelessness at that command,” said Kayla Arestivo, a licensed counselor who was brought in two weeks ago to help the sailors in the unit.

At least four U.S. Navy sailors assigned to the same facility in Virginia died by suicide in the last few weeks, military officials and family members say. https://t.co/jyCk6BVHnj

— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 2, 2022

Four Navy sailors appear to have died by suicide over the course of less than a month in the same Navy command in Norfolk, Va., according to a Navy official. https://t.co/bA8fLZPuPP

— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 2, 2022

NBC News reported:

Many MARMC sailors have been struggling with personal issues that were exacerbated by a lack of mental health resources on the job and feeling overworked and undervalued by their leaders, according to a sailor who spoke with NBC News and Arestivo, who recently led four suicide prevention sessions at the site.

“Part of it is toxic leadership. The sailors immediately pointed that out,” Arestivo said.

Of the roughly 3,000 people assigned to MARMC, many are on limited duty because they either have mental or physical disabilities or are dealing with personal circumstantial stressors that are preventing them from full unrestricted duty, Arestivo said.

Arestivo said the Navy should have recognized those challenges for the whole unit and provided help earlier on.

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“Right away, we should know these people are in higher need, under higher stress,” said Arestivo, who is also the co-founder and president of Trails of Purpose, a nonprofit that provides free mental health care to service members.

CBS News added:

The official confirmed that 22-year-old Kody Lee Decker, of Virginia, was one of the sailors. An obituary posted by his family said Decker, who died on Oct. 29, was a Navy electronics technician.

A few days later, on Nov. 5, Cameron Armstrong also died, his mother, Sharon Armstrong confirmed. She said her son, whom she described as “very sweet” and “a kind soul,” had been in the Navy for about four years, and he had been seeking mental health care from the Navy.

This is the second time in a year that the Navy has been confronted with a rash of suicide deaths. It launched an investigation in April after three sailors on the crew of the USS Washington died within one week of each other. The Navy is trying to determine whether there were any underlying causes that led crew members to take their own lives.

The living and working conditions on the carrier, which is undergoing a yearslong overhaul, present challenges for the sailors. While it’s in the shipyard at Newport News, Va., the George Washington is essentially a construction zone, where it can be cramped, hot and loud for the crew on board. Top Navy commanders have acknowledged the difficulties faced by the carrier’s sailors. The shipyard is not far from the maintenance center where the most recent suicides occurred, just about 30 miles away.