In a statement, Capt. Scott McGinnis, the commanding officer of the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, said officials at the school “take every suicide very seriously and seek to learn from every one of these sad events.”
“Our curriculum is rigorous and the nature of our work is difficult, but our country’s national security depends on the performance of our aircraft carriers and submarines,” McGinnis said. “However, nothing is more important than our Sailors’ health, especially mental health.”
The numbers alone might not capture the breadth of the mental health struggles among students and instructors in the nuclear program. Instructors, students and their loved ones said nuclear-trained sailors, known in the field as nukes, often avoid counseling and mask their struggles out of fear of getting a mental health diagnosis that would lead to their expulsion.
Douglas Bainbridge, an Electrician’s Mate First Class who taught at the school from 2017 to 2021, said people are “terrified” to admit they may be suffering from mental health issues because they fear they could lose a job they’ve invested years on. “No amount of counselors is going to address the underlying issue,” he said.
“They’d rather suffer and still be a nuke than go and get the help they need,” said the spouse of a former nuclear student who struggled with suicidal ideation and depression before transferring out. The spouse asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation. “Sometimes they wait too long, and that’s what breaks them.”
For some staff members, it was normal to find unresponsive students and bring them to the hospital, one current and one former nuclear instructor said, adding that they’re trained to scan students’ faces in class to identify anyone who may be struggling, as well as keep their eyes peeled when walking around campus, especially at night.
“You have to be ready to respond when you see a body,” Bainbridge said.
The Navy confirmed…
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