NORFOLK, Va. — Since 2017, the Navy has lost 452 active-duty sailors and 62 reservists to suicide according to U.S. Fleet Forces Command.
Fleet Forces Admiral Daryl Caudle wants sailors and their families to know, the Navy is serious about this problem.
"There is nothing more impactful to the Navy than to lose one of our own through suicide. You are my top priority," he said on Monday.
Following a year in which Hampton Roads lost nine sailors to suicide, Caudle urged teammates thinking of self-harm to call the national suicide hotline, 988.
He outlined many steps the Navy is taking, including a new Mental Health Playbook, to assist leaders in addressing mental health problems in their commands, including a mental health roadmap that instructs leaders on specific resources available and actions to take.
Caudle also acknowledged one of his own ships, the USS Carter Hall, fell short when just weeks ago, a 20-year-old Marine Corps Lance Corporal repeatedly asked superiors to receive mental health care by invoking "The Brandon Act." but he was denied.
"In this case that was not good judgment. We as a chain of command failed there," he said.
Caudle's top enlisted advisor, Fleet Master Chief John Perryman, said a key is for leaders to really get to know their personnel.
"The ability to make these decisions on an individual sailor or Marine basis rests in that leader's ability to really know their sailors and know that they really care about their sailor," he said.
Admiral Caudle is very concerned about quality-of-life issues.
On that score, he said he is making progress negotiating with Huntington Ingalls and the city of Newport News in creating new, closer parking for sailors who work at the shipyard.
Caudle said he hopes for the completion of that initiative in three to five years.
The national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org