Off-ship housing, free Wi-Fi and more access to food are among 48 changes being implemented for USS John C. Stennis sailors while the aircraft carrier undergoes a multiyear refueling and complex overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding.
“Nobody joins the Navy to conduct years of in-port industrial maintenance,” Rear Adm. Scotty Gray, head of the Navy’s quality of service cross-functional team, said Monday during a virtual roundtable conducted from the Pentagon.
Navy leadership provided an update Monday on the service’s ongoing effort to improve quality of life for sailors assigned to ships in maintenance periods. The Navy is undertaking efforts to enhance quality of life both in and out of the workplace to improve the overall “quality of service” for sailors.
This effort began six months ago after an investigation into Hampton Roads-based sailor suicides found the Navy failed the crew of the USS George Washington. The pandemic had lengthened that aircraft carrier’s midlife refueling and complex overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding from the typical four to six years. During that time, the Washington experienced nine suicides among its crew.
During the Navy’s investigation into the shipyard environment, sailors reported constant noise and cold temperatures aboard a shell of a ship that was periodically without hot water and power. The report also found inadequate parking, transportation, access to food and nutritional options, training space, physical fitness facilities, and housing options to support the number of sailors assigned to ships and submarines in the shipyard.
The Navy operates best, Gray said, when it follows its standard model of providing certain services for its sailors.
“But that wasn’t the model in the shipyard,” Gray said.
The Stennis, which has been a fixture at the shipyard since May 2021, is two years into the same overhaul process. Its crew members are the first to see the quality of service changes. The programs will eventually roll out Navy-wide.
“They are holding us accountable for the work that we are doing,” Gray said. “They are providing a reality check on what is being implemented and if it is making a difference.”
One of the biggest changes Stennis sailors will see is Wi-Fi as a utility. The pilot is being implemented now, and is set to begin in early 2024.
“It is the 21st century. Young sailors have never lived without connectivity. They experience the world through their cellphones,” Gray said.
Junior Stennis sailors are also no longer required to live on the ship while it is undergoing maintenance. They are being offered housing at Huntington Hall, an apartment building about a half-mile from the shipyard. Parts of the building, including kitchen spaces and the gym, were recently updated.
Additionally, sailors now have more than 30 food options around the Newport News shipyard, including micromarkets and food trucks. And the Navy is reviewing unaccompanied housing cooking policies.
In the coming months, sailors can expect to see continued improvements to parking, safety and bus schedules as Newport News Shipbuilding and the Navy work to make additional strides.
“As communicated by Navy leadership today, significant progress has been made and we remain committed to the open dialogue and partnership that has advanced these initiatives and those that are still to come,” said Todd Corillo, spokesperson for Newport News Shipbuilding.
Capt. Patrick Thompson, commanding officer of the Stennis, reported positive reactions to the handful of newly implemented changes.
“Specifically, the biggest morale boost came with the Wi-Fi on our barge,” Thompson said. “That enabled our sailors to easily and better communicate with family members, have downtime while on duty and stay connected while at work.”
Thompson said he observed “a good boost to morale” following the departure of the Washington earlier this summer, which meant more parking was available for the Stennis crew.
“That removed the need for long shuttle rides and earlier wake times, which I know helped morale dramatically,” he said.
Additionally, Thompson being a part of the Navy’s quality of service team has allowed his crew to more easily elevate issues and see rapid changes, he said.
“The increased attention has been enormous,” Thompson said. “The communication lines to the highest levels in the Navy has allowed us to get after the issues.”
When it comes to reassuring his crew, he said it is all about connecting with the sailors from every level of leadership.
“We are here to take care of our sailors and make sure they have what they need,” Thompson said.
Gray declined to measure the success of the program so far, saying it needs more “run time,” but he said the Navy team is working diligently to implement all 48 recommendations.
“To change the culture of any organization — it is not easy work, but they are plowing through it,” Gray said.
The Navy is working to establish a formal split-tour policy that will ensure first-term sailors don’t spend more than two years assigned to ships undergoing in-port industrial maintenance. In the meantime, sailors can be temporarily assigned to operational units so they can learn their at-sea responsibilities.
Gray said the Navy is dedicated to “getting this right.”
“Making sure we focus ourselves on taking care of our sailors — we have got to do it,” Gray said.
Caitlyn Burchett, caitlyn.burchett@virginiamedia.com
