Additional Coverage:
- A US Navy chief who wanted WiFi on her warship secretly ran an illegal Starlink network that she named ‘STINKY’: report (newsbreak.com)
A U.S. Navy senior enlisted leader was recently demoted for secretly setting up an unauthorized Wi-Fi network aboard the combat ship USS Manchester, revealed in a report. Grisel Marrero, the former senior chief petty officer of the ship, who has been downgraded to chief petty officer, named the network “STINKY” and misled her superiors about its existence, according to documents obtained by Navy Times.
During a deployment this year, Marrero, as the network administrator, managed the network which was powered through a Starlink dish and kit costing $2,800, which she initially paid for using a personal credit card. Details from a Navy charge sheet indicate that Marrero positioned the equipment on the ship’s weather deck during a period that generally goes unrecorded in official logs.
The costs of the Starlink service, amounting to $1,000 monthly, were shared among the ship’s chiefs, who paid using a debit card from the Chief Petty Officer Association. The exclusive access to this Wi-Fi network was kept within the chiefs’ group. However, their clandestine setup began to unravel when other sailors and officials observed the unusual Wi-Fi signal, leading to inquiries which Marrero dishonestly dismissed.
Documents cited in the report highlight that Marrero changed the network’s name to mimic a wireless printer’s to further conceal the operation, despite the absence of such printers on board. The scheme was ultimately exposed when a civilian technician discovered the illicit setup on August 18 while installing authorized equipment.
Marrero attempted to dismantle the network upon discovery and later confessed to installing the unauthorized Wi-Fi when directly confronted by her commanding officer in late August. According to court documents, Marrero faced charges including dereliction of duty and providing false statements, pleading guilty to some charges while contesting others. Despite her defense, she was found guilty on all counts.
Further requests for comments from the U.S. Navy, made by Business Insider, have yet to be answered.