The United States Navy has demoted a service member who had an unauthorized Starlink satellite dish on a warship while deployed.
Grisel Marrero, a former Command Senior Chief on the USS Manchester, has been stripped of her rank in August or September of 2023, according to newly released information. Commander Cindy Field, a spokeswoman of the Navy, cited “a loss of confidence in her leadership abilities.”
“Navy senior enlisted leaders … are expected to uphold the highest standards of responsibility, reliability and leadership, and the Navy holds them accountable when they fall short of those standards,” Fields told WPIX in an email.
Marrero reportedly wanted to use social media, watch movies, and check in on sports teams while deployed. She and senior members of the crew purchased a Starlink High-Performance kit for $2,800 and had it installed in April of last year before the vessel departed from San Diego. They titled the wireless network “STINKY.”
Along with Marrero, a group of chief petty officers used the satellite dish. The group also bought signal amplifiers when the USS Manchester stopped in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. They paid the $1,000 monthly bill using a debit card issued to the Chief Petty Officer’s Association. An estimated total of 15 people were involved.
The covert WiFi scheme was discovered after a few months.
Marrero was accused of lying to the ship's command about the WiFi. She was convicted during a court-martial in June. As part of her sentence, her rank was reduced to E-7.
“Records released so far show the probe, which wrapped in November, found that the entire chiefs mess knew about the secret system, and those who didn’t buy into it were nonetheless culpable for not reporting the misconduct,” reports the Navy Times.
The Navy has not released all the documents, including interview transcripts, collected during the investigation. Marrero has not publicly commented on the scheme or her conviction.
While naval ships do have some WiFi access, it is often restricted to ensure bandwidth for the mission and to prevent online attacks.
Naval officials condemned the unauthorized installation of the satellite dish, which they labeled a “danger” to “the crew, the ship and the Navy.”
The Navy is incorporating Starlink on warships as part of its Sailor Edge Afloat and Ashore (SEA2) program. The program aims to support operational efficiency and boost morale
“The need for increased connectivity was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown in March 2020 when ships were unable to perform port calls due to country restrictions, thus severing their connection to the rest of the world,” the Navy said in a report, per TWZ. “Better and more reliable Internet access would mitigate the issues that arise from less frequent interactions with external sources.”
