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Desertion and Suicide surging in the Navy
Posted on 5/24/22 at 12:31 am
Posted on 5/24/22 at 12:31 am
It seems that Gen Z is unable to handle the discipline and deployments required of Naval life.
To be fair to the sailors of the George Washington, if the stories I'm hearing of conditions there are true, then I absolutely understand THOSE crewman bolting. Living in cavelike conditions without hot water or electricity for months at a time is unsat, and the Naval leadership should be sacked for it. Don't look for anything to happen to the chain of command, though.
Navy Desertions Have More Than Doubled
quote:
The number of sailors who deserted the Navy more than doubled from 2019 to 2021, while desertions in other military branches dropped or stayed flat, pointing to a potential Navy-wide mental health crisis amid a spate of recent suicides, according to experts and federal statistics obtained by NBC News.
Among a fleet of more than 342,000 active sailors, there were 157 new Navy deserters in 2021, compared with 63 in 2019 and 98 in 2020, Navy data shows. The total number of deserters who were still at large in 2021 grew to 166 from 119 in 2019. Most of them were 25 and younger.
“That’s staggering,” said Benjamin Gold, a defense attorney for U.S. service members.
In the wake of several suicides among sailors assigned to the warship the USS George Washington, the new desertion figures highlight the lack of options for sailors when they’re desperate to leave the military but are bound to multiyear contracts that many of them signed just out of high school.
Military law experts said the nearly unbreakable contracts — which can require up to six years of active duty — leave sailors with extreme alternatives: die by suicide or flee and face harsh consequences, including spending years behind bars as patriots-turned-pariahs.
“They feel trapped,” said Lenore Yarger, a resource counselor with the GI Rights Hotline, a nonprofit nongovernmental group that specializes in military discharges.
To be fair to the sailors of the George Washington, if the stories I'm hearing of conditions there are true, then I absolutely understand THOSE crewman bolting. Living in cavelike conditions without hot water or electricity for months at a time is unsat, and the Naval leadership should be sacked for it. Don't look for anything to happen to the chain of command, though.
Navy Desertions Have More Than Doubled
17
Posted on 5/24/22 at 12:35 am to DesScorp
Whenever you get passed over for certain things because you do not check certain boxes, and others do, it gets old real fast.
Posted on 5/24/22 at 12:35 am to DesScorp
quote:
Among a fleet of more than 342,000 active sailors, there were 157 new Navy deserters in 2021, compared with 63 in 2019 and 98 in 2020, Navy data shows.
These are Covid death type numbers
Posted on 5/24/22 at 2:52 am to DesScorp
The military had the most draconian Covid restrictions of anyone in the world. The navy was making people quarantine for two weeks every time a ship moved or a sailor got reassigned. I know people that spent 3-4 months a year in quarantine. Add to that the fact that commanders are almost unwilling to let their sailors go on any real shore leave out of fear of a sailor doing something stupid. Sailors doing something stupid in a foreign port will ruin an officers career faster than running a ship aground.
This is the military’s fault, not the young sailors.
This is the military’s fault, not the young sailors.
Posted on 5/24/22 at 3:03 am to DesScorp
What was going on aboard the Washington?
As someone with 2 brothers who served in the Navy, this saddens me.
As someone with 2 brothers who served in the Navy, this saddens me.
Posted on 5/24/22 at 4:30 am to DesScorp
Never understood going AWOL in the Navy. It’s the safest branch next to the Air Force.
Also hard to have sympathy for people who “feel locked in” their enlistment contracts. That’s how it works
Also hard to have sympathy for people who “feel locked in” their enlistment contracts. That’s how it works
Posted on 5/24/22 at 6:00 am to DesScorp
quote:
”They feel trapped,” said Lenore Yarger, a resource counselor with the GI Rights Hotline, a nonprofit nongovernmental group that specializes in military discharges.
They feel trapped? They signed a commitment!!!! They KNEW how long they were signing up for!!!! This wasn’t a surprise!!! And, for this person to be out there advocating for them.
This is just like the student loan debt! They signed up for it, then realized that it was gonna cramp their lifestyle, and the want out.
This is the result of the participation trophy generation folks! This is what happens when you don’t keep score, or hold people accountable to a standard. This is what you get.
This post was edited on 5/24/22 at 6:04 am
Posted on 5/24/22 at 6:08 am to DesScorp
(no message)
This post was edited on 11/7/22 at 7:17 am
Posted on 5/24/22 at 6:11 am to DesScorp
I am sure the unnecessary and strict Covid restrictions did not help but my guess is that lowering standards of admission and lowering training expectations caused the majority of this.
Enroll weaker people and reduce their training and you get this behavior.
It could also just be a weaker generational group due to being raised with such comfort in America that we have to create things to stress about during their lifetimes.
Enroll weaker people and reduce their training and you get this behavior.
It could also just be a weaker generational group due to being raised with such comfort in America that we have to create things to stress about during their lifetimes.
Posted on 5/24/22 at 6:27 am to DesScorp
quote:
the new desertion figures highlight the lack of options for sailors when they’re desperate to leave the military but are bound to multiyear contracts that many of them signed just out of high school.
So no one teaches them what this means in school...shite...at home for that matter.
Posted on 5/24/22 at 6:28 am to DesScorp
I talk to my cousin in a regular basis and he’s in the Navy. He joined in 2014 and says that morale in general has gone down in general in the last couple of years. COVID had a lot to do with it; politics and wokeism too. When he hits ten years in 2024 he says he will be getting out.
Posted on 5/24/22 at 6:32 am to dstarsntigers
quote:
These are Covid death type numbers
quote:
4.590643274853801e-4 %
Less than Covid numbers. To be honest, I would expect that many to puss out due to mental deficiency alone.
This post was edited on 5/24/22 at 6:34 am
Posted on 5/24/22 at 6:41 am to DesScorp
I bet this has a lot less to do with gen Z and a lot more to do with the military turning into a cesspool of political correctness. It’s also motivated to promote diversity above all else instead of promoting the best of the best.
Posted on 5/24/22 at 6:46 am to GeauxxxTigers23
quote:
The military had the most draconian Covid restrictions of anyone in the world.
Bc the military has no leadership and hasn't for quite a long time.
Posted on 5/24/22 at 6:55 am to Placekicker
quote:
They feel trapped? They signed a commitment!!!! They KNEW how long they were signing up for!!!! This wasn’t a surprise!!! And, for this person to be out there advocating for them
This is the same generation that is screaming for student loan forgiveness. Promises are irrelevant if it's "hard."
They've never been told "no" to this point, and they don't like it now.
Posted on 5/24/22 at 6:56 am to DesScorp
This is what happens when society is soft….
Posted on 5/24/22 at 7:04 am to jnethe1
quote:
Whenever you get passed over for certain things because you do not check certain boxes, and others do, it gets old real fast.
just enter the transfer portal
Posted on 5/24/22 at 7:06 am to The Maj
I watched the Army go to shite from 84 to 98, Affirmative Action was rampant, politics from the brass all the way down, really pissed people off...
But today's nonsense must be on another level altogether. DoD must be an absolute shithole of an organization these days.
But today's nonsense must be on another level altogether. DoD must be an absolute shithole of an organization these days.
Posted on 5/24/22 at 7:24 am to DesScorp
I was talking to a pilot from VAW-117 a year or so ago. They had recently come back from deployment during COVID. They did a 10 month deployment, he said when they could port, all they could do was stand on the pier for a few hours and go back aboard. Anyone who has done a aircraft carrier deployment will tell you that is brutal. Not surprised first tour sailors want out after that crap.
I can’t excuse desertion though. Do your time and get out.
I can’t excuse desertion though. Do your time and get out.
Posted on 5/24/22 at 7:26 am to DesScorp
People don't take their own lives because they are hot and uncomfortable. Even for extended periods of time.
AWOL, Desert, very likely but to say that someone takes their own life because of a single factor is part of the reason that mental heath in this country is so screw up and misunderstood and goes untreated.
The reasons someone takes their life are complicated and to single out one reason and say, that's it is lazy and unhelpful.
Sadly suicides' among young adults and teens are up all across this country and the dangerous brainwashing coming out of one segment of this countries society is verifiably contributing to those rising numbers.
Also I'd be careful about the numbers being reported. I don't think we have anything concrete to compare them to because in my military days circa late 80's - late mid 90's the government and specifically the pentagon kept those figures close to the vest and it wasn't widely publicized. So even today I have to be skeptical of the numbers because of the political agenda that had permeated the pentagon and filtered down to the command level.
Whatever is going on is a problem for sure but it goes deeper than just a bunch of sailors or soldiers being uncomfortable. Even if they are not properly trained these days to handle the reality of military life.
AWOL, Desert, very likely but to say that someone takes their own life because of a single factor is part of the reason that mental heath in this country is so screw up and misunderstood and goes untreated.
The reasons someone takes their life are complicated and to single out one reason and say, that's it is lazy and unhelpful.
Sadly suicides' among young adults and teens are up all across this country and the dangerous brainwashing coming out of one segment of this countries society is verifiably contributing to those rising numbers.
Also I'd be careful about the numbers being reported. I don't think we have anything concrete to compare them to because in my military days circa late 80's - late mid 90's the government and specifically the pentagon kept those figures close to the vest and it wasn't widely publicized. So even today I have to be skeptical of the numbers because of the political agenda that had permeated the pentagon and filtered down to the command level.
Whatever is going on is a problem for sure but it goes deeper than just a bunch of sailors or soldiers being uncomfortable. Even if they are not properly trained these days to handle the reality of military life.
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