NORFOLK, Va. — The Navy has been laser focused in recent months on sailor quality of life and overall well-being.
One key facet of that is the new bill of rights and responsibilities for junior personnel who live in "unaccompanied housing"-- the barracks.
It's a move designed to raise morale and comes in the wake of nine local sailors' recent deaths by suicide in less than a year's time.
The bill was developed after Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday and fleet commanders determined that improving unaccompanied housing would "positively impact sailor morale."
Among the rights guaranteed in the document are promises to provide safe housing that meets environmental and health standards, with working fixtures and utilities, clearly defined housing regulations and the ability to "report inadequate housing standards" without fear of reprisal.
"What it is is a covenant between us, the government, unaccompanied housing, and the resident," said Ron Plowman, the director of unaccompanied housing at Naval Station Norfolk.
He is in charge of 12 facilities on base that are 99% full, housing 3,500 single sailors, E-4 and below.
"They have their job to do, whether it's on ship or shore duty. But this is their home. They need quality, somewhere to come home and feel safe and be able to call it home," he said.
This program is brand new. Installation commanders were required to post the bill of rights throughout unaccompanied housing facilities and within orientation handbooks as of May 26.