Newly deployed sailors are now getting counseling assistance aboard ship 2 hours ago The cruiser Vella Gulf and the destroyer Laboon, right, come alongside the fleet-replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha in the Atlantic Ocean Jan. 15. Crew members of both ships have benefited from a new Navy program to provide emotional support to deploying sailors. (MC2 Dean Cates/Navy) The Navy has started providing sailors mental health support in the early stages of deployments so they are better equipped to manage common stressors they may encounter while getting underway. Under the Navy’s new Departure & Separation Program, sailors on six surface ships were provided access to licensed counselors and specially trained educators during their first two to six weeks of deployment.