So the esc switches are in the ON postion and their circuitry get their juice from the D cells.Getting somewhere now.

The escs are disarming because the internal circuitry detects low voltage.
Suppress the motors.
It's up to you whether you are willing to try reconnecting centre pins and keeping switches OFFor using a different grade of battery.
The D cells can't maintain enough voltage with a 700bb and no suppressor.