As the Navy continues to struggle with suicide and getting its sailors to seek help from mental health services, some commands are turning to new, unconventional tools.
At Naval Station Mayport, Florida, a commander didn't want his unit — a regional maintenance center very similar to the one in Norfolk, Virginia, that recently experienced a string of suicides — to become the next headline. What resulted was a proactive forum built on transparency that reportedly got rave reviews from sailors and may have sparked a trend at the small base.
Historically, the Navy's approach to suicide prevention has been largely reactive. While resources are available all the time, their existence is often discussed only following the death of sailors.
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In early December, it became known that the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center had suffered four suicides in over a month. That type of maintenance center is unique in the Navy because many of its sailors are not on permanent assignment.
A Navy spokeswoman told Military.com in December that up to half of the sailors assigned to the Norfolk facility could be on humanitarian orders, pregnancy or postpartum status, or limited duty.
After the deaths, the commanding officer of the Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, a command that largely mirrors the troubled center in Norfolk, approached…
