Senior US Navy commander illegally installed Wi-Fi on a ship — she was fired and demoted

The U.S. Navy has shut down an illegal Wi-Fi network on a warship. The senior commander who ordered the installation was demoted. The now former senior commander, Grizel Marrero, was convicted in March, according to the Navy Times, which received documents on the trial.

Marrero served on the USS Manchester, a littoral combat ship assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Surface Fleet. Navy spokesmen confirmed the report to The Register and added:

«The senior commanding officer of the USS Manchester (LCS 14) Gold Crew, Chief Petty Officer Grizel Marrero, was relieved of her duties due to a loss of confidence in Marrero’s ability to perform her duties as a senior officer. Senior Navy personnel are held to high standards of personal and professional behavior. They are expected to uphold the highest standards of responsibility, trustworthiness, and leadership, and the Navy holds them accountable if they fail to meet these standards».

Between March and August of last year, during her tenure at «Manchester», Marrero «knowingly coordinated the procurement, installation and use of an unauthorized and unauthorized Wi-Fi system», — the indictment states.

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The wording of the charge suggests that Marrero did not act alone, other sailors were also punished in connection with the incident. Wi-Fi is not the best network in terms of security, and the use of this wireless network technology is generally prohibited on US Navy ships.

The installation went unnoticed until about June last year, when a crew member tried to pass on information about the illegal network to the ship’s commander. However, this tip was intercepted by Marrero, who did not tell the commander anything about the Wi-Fi deployment to avoid repercussions.

The scheme was uncovered in August when a crew member of the «Manchester» was disciplined. To «influence or prevent the crewmember from being punished, Marrero edited images of Starlink’s data usage on the ship to hide the data and Wi-Fi network.

It is not stated whether the crew member was then disciplined for the Wi-Fi network or for the use of Starlink data, but in either case, the senior officer lied to her superiors.

Marrero was first dismissed from her post in September, then the case went to a military court. She was accused of willful dereliction of duty, perjury, and obstruction of justice. She pleaded guilty to all charges except the last one, on which she was still found guilty. The punishment was a demotion from E-8 to E-7. It is not yet known how the other participants in the case were punished.