This month we published an investigation into how top Navy brass ignored years of warnings from within its own ranks before two historically deadly accidents in 2017 killed 17 sailors on the USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain.
In the weeks since the investigation, scores of current and former Navy officers and sailors wrote and called us to say that not enough has changed: The Navy is continuing to neglect its ships and its crews.
We are taking this outreach seriously.
The Navy has promised reforms, but detailed information about the progress of those fixes is hard to come by. This is where you come in: We need as many active duty or recently retired Navy service members as possible to fill out the following questionnaire. Help us figure out whether substantive changes have actually been made. Are those changes addressing the problems uncovered by the crashes? How much of a difference are they making?
We’re trying to get as complete a picture as possible from the people in the best position to know. Our goal is to hear from active service members from the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th fleets. If you know someone serving there, we hope you will share this with them. If you have family or friends whose safety you’re worried about, we’d also love to hear from you.
The following questionnaire is submitted via HTTPS, which means nobody can read what you submit except us (and ScreenDoor, the service that hosts our submission forms). If you’d rather talk on Signal, WhatsApp or LINE, which are more secure, send a message to 213-271-7217. You can also email us at military@propublica.org.
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