Navy leader demoted after she conspired with chiefs to run illegal WiFi network on warship

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A US Navy command senior chief was demoted for conspiring with other Navy chiefs to install an illegal WiFi network on a warship that they used to check sports scores and watch TV shows. 

Grisel Marrero, a senior enlisted Navy officer, reportedly installed a Starlink network on the USS Manchester called "STINKY."

The command senior chief installed and operated the unauthorized network during a deployment in 2023. She charged the $1,000-a-month cost of the network to a leadership association debit card. 

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Marrero lied and misled her commanding officer about the network at least three times, according to a charge sheet reviewed by Fox News Digital. 

As the Manchester prepared for a West Pacific deployment in April 2023, Marrero conspired with the ship’s chief to install the secret network. It would be exclusive to them: They didn’t share it with rank-and-file sailors who were forced to deploy without connectivity. 

The chiefs used the network to check sports scores, text and stream movies, according to an internal investigation obtained by Navy Times.

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Senior Chief Petty Officer Grisel Marrero was demoted after she was convicted over running an illegal WiFi network. (Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet)

She was demoted from senior chief petty officer to chief petty officer after being found guilty of dereliction of duty and providing false official statements to commanders on May 29. Before her trial, Naval Surface Force Pacific, or SURFPAC, quietly relieved her of her leadership position aboard the Manchester, according to the Navy Times.

SURFPAC spokesman Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson told Navy Times that other sailors were disciplined in connection to the unauthorized WiFi but declined to provide further details. 

Using such a wireless network for entertainment could cause a serious security breach, the investigation warned. 

"The danger such systems pose to the crew, the ship and the Navy cannot be understated."

Prosecutors said Marrero "failed to prevent the USS Manchester’s exposure to operational security risk, as it was her duty to do." 

Marrero had paid for the $2,800 Starlink dish on her personal credit card and was the network administrator. She and another chief installed the dish during an "aloft" time period when duties aren’t recorded in the ship’s logs, according to Navy Times. 

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Navy sailors typically have extremely limited connectivity during deployments. (Petty Officer 3rd Class Todd Frantom/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)

She named the network "STINKY" to make it sound like a wireless printer, though there were no such printers on the ship. 

When junior sailors and commanding officers began to notice the network, Marrero denied its existence, according to the sheet. She also altered a data display image for the Starlink account to reflect lesser data usages. 

The Starlink dish was discovered on Aug. 18 of that year by a civilian installing an authorized satellite communication system. 

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"The gig is up," Marrero texted a crew member at the time, according to the investigation.

After being confronted, she and the other chiefs tried to remove the dish, then told commanders they only used it while in port. 

Marrero finally admitted to being behind the illegal network to her commanding officer on Aug. 26, 2023. 

Court records show Marrero pleaded guilty to two counts of dereliction of duty and one count of obstruction of justice.