Gotcha. Sounded as if it was something that happened on those long sub missions.
Well, that's another research project that the Department of Defense will never share with the public.
But I think it's actually the shore duty that allows the problems to come to the fore. When we're on sea duty we're focused on getting things ready, getting underway, and getting on with the mission. Personal & family issues take a back seat, get solved without us, or just fester.
When sea duty turns to shore duty, though, it's kinda hard to ignore the crew's personality conflicts, the family divorce proceedings, the child-custody legal battles, the spouse infidelity, the baby's paternity test that doesn't match the husband... Sometimes the best leaders & performers are the least likely ones to admit that they're out of their depth and need some help.
One of the guys who committed suicide, a Navy diver, had been his salvage ship's Sailor of the Year. An E-6, he'd been awarded a Navy Commendation Medal. He'd just finished a psychological screening that cleared him for teaching submarine SCUBA diving-- a high-risk and very intensely physical/mental course that gets a lot of attention to make sure the instructors are "good people". When I last spoke to him he was happy to be on shore duty, ready to start teaching, and looking forward to the holiday weekend with his wife & young kids.
18 hours later he'd executed his wife, shot her boyfriend into a quadriplegic, and killed himself.
You can imagine the trauma to the families and the publicity. Signs of their marital problems were all over the housing neighborhood and the older son's elementary school. It had been simmering for nearly two years (the back half of his sea duty). Survivor benefits were a nasty issue. SECNAV sent an officer to the diver's funeral service with specific orders to ensure that no military courtesies or honors were rendered. Lawsuits & custody disputes are still unresolved nearly a decade later...