Navy will monitor Eisenhower Strike Group sailors for mental health after deployment

NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The thousands of sailors who just arrived in Hampton Roads are said to have witnessed the fiercest combat the U.S. Navy has seen since World War II.

Now that they are back on land, the Navy leadership wants to ensure that their war experiences do not weigh even more heavily on them.

The first thing Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro did when he walked onto Pier 14 at Naval Station Norfolk on Sunday was to address families waiting to be reunited with their loved ones returning from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.

“Thank you to all the American people for supporting our Navy and Marine Corps and all branches of the United States military,” Del Toro said. “Without your support, this certainly wouldn’t be possible. But rest assured, your U.S. Navy is stationed around the world and is ready to fulfill its mission at any time.”

The sailors, part of the USS Dwight D Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group 2, including USS Philippine Sea And USS Gravelyfought for nine months against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who attack merchant ships in the Red Sea.

According to Del Toro, naval ships and “innocent merchant sailors” were attacked more than 200 times.

The Houthi attacks target important shipping routes, civilian merchant ships and military units that use the passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman and Aden, the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb and the Red Sea.

“It’s like this every single day, every single watch, and some of our ships have been out here doing this for over seven months,” Capt. David Wroe, the commodore who oversees the guided-missile destroyers, told the Associated Press last month.

This is one of the reasons why the Ike only had two port calls during its deployment, which, according to Commander Mark Miguez of Carrier Strike Group 2, is far from enough.

“Normally, we want to call at a port about every 50 days,” said Miguez. “However, the mission was so important that we could not do that this time.”

Since it was known that the work was more than arduous, the sailors also had ship’s chaplains and a therapy dog ​​named “Demo” at their disposal.

But Admiral Daryl Caudle, commander of the US fleet, said the work is only just beginning.

“Every sailor was part of that strike group, (and) over 7,000 were assessed to make sure we fully understand their mental state and mental health,” Caudle said. “We will be monitoring them over the next few months to make sure they remain healthy.”

The Navy has sought to take a more active role in improving mental health resources across all commands.

According to the Veterans Affairs Administration, deployment can increase the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some studies show that veterans who have been deployed are three times more likely to develop PTSD than those who have not been deployed.

“We know what weapons deployment zone they were in,” Caudle said, “and we want to make sure they recover from that deployment. We’ll keep an eye on them during that transition period.”

Information sources

In addition to the visit www.suicide.navy.milThe following websites provide information, facts and resources on suicide prevention:

• Find help from your local naval chaplain, Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC) or medical provider.
• Review and share resources from Military OneSource.
• For help, call or text the Suicide and Crisis LifeLine (988).
• Visit the 1 Small ACT toolkit for more information on check-in and #BeThere for Every Sailor, Every Day.
• Follow the Navy’s Project 1 Small ACT campaign on Facebook, XAnd WordPress.
• The Seaman’s assistance and interception of life The (SAIL) program also provides safety planning, suicide risk assessment and caring contacts, as well as serving as a liaison and advocate for seafarers following cases of suicidal behavior.
• Department of the Navy (DON) civilians may contact the Civilian Employee Assistance Program for information about resources available to them at (844) 366-2327 or internationally at (866) 829-0270.

Additional resources: