{"id":160626,"date":"2024-09-04T07:30:30","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T11:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=160626"},"modified":"2024-09-03T20:37:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T00:37:50","slug":"scathing-report-indicts-lcss-entire-chiefs-mess-in-wifi-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=160626","title":{"rendered":"Scathing report indicts LCS’s entire Chief’s Mess in WiFi scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Grisel Marrero, former Command Senior Chief of LCS USS Manchester (LCS-14)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A while back<\/a>, in one of my\u00a0Stupid people of the week<\/em> features, I mentioned the above pictured sailor. In June she was convicted at court martial and reduced in grade to E-7 for installing and utilizing an unauthorized WiFi set up while her ship (USS Manchester [LCS-14]) was under way. Her bio indicates she has a background in the intelligence field. My dad always did say, “Military intelligence is an oxymoron.” This would seem to be the case in point.<\/p>\n

At the time, I remember thinking that the CMDCS might have had good intentions. I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt that she made this insanely large lapse in operational security judgement for the betterment of her crew. Not that an LCS is known for being out to sea for months at a time like a ballistic missile sub, but giving her sailors ready Internet access while underway would be a good morale boost.<\/p>\n

I should definitely\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>have assumed the CMDCS here had her crew’s interests in mind. A scathing report on the incident has been released, and apparently the Senior Chief’s security breach was only for those in the Chief’s Mess. The ol’ goat locker takes care of their own. The whole lot of them not only were aware of it, but went along with the plan to literally ratchet strap a Starlink dish to the weatherdeck of their ostensibly stealthy warship.<\/p>\n

From Navy Times<\/a>;<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Navy sailors are likely familiar with the jarring loss of internet connectivity that can come with a ship\u2019s deployment.<\/p>\n

For a variety of reasons, including operational security, a crew\u2019s internet access is regularly restricted while underway, to preserve bandwidth for the mission and to keep their ship safe from nefarious online attacks.<\/p>\n

But the senior enlisted leaders among the littoral combat ship Manchester\u2019s gold crew knew no such privation last year, when they installed and secretly used their very own Wi-Fi network during a deployment, according to a scathing internal investigation obtained by Navy Times.<\/p>\n

As the ship prepared for a West Pacific deployment in April 2023, the enlisted leader onboard conspired with the ship\u2019s chiefs to install the secret, unauthorized network aboard the ship, for use exclusively by them.<\/p>\n

So while rank-and-file sailors lived without the level of internet connectivity they enjoyed ashore, the chiefs installed a Starlink satellite internet dish on the top of the ship and used a Wi-Fi network they dubbed \u201cSTINKY\u201d to check sports scores, text home and stream movies.<\/p>\n

The enjoyment of those wireless creature comforts by enlisted leaders aboard the ship carried serious repercussions for the security of the ship and its crew.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe danger such systems pose to the crew, the ship and the Navy cannot be understated,\u201d the investigation notes.<\/p>\n

Led by the senior enlisted leader of the ship\u2019s gold crew, then-Command Senior Chief Grisel Marrero, the effort roped in the entire chiefs mess by the time it was uncovered a few months later.<\/p>\n

Marrero was relieved in late 2023 after repeatedly misleading and lying to her ship\u2019s command about the Wi-Fi network, and she was convicted at court-martial this spring in connection to the scheme.<\/p>\n

She was sentenced to a reduction in rank to E-7 after the trial and did not respond to requests for comment for this report.<\/p>\n

The Navy has yet to release the entirety of the Manchester investigation file to Navy Times, including supplemental enclosures. Such records generally include statements or interview transcripts with the accused.<\/p>\n

But 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\u2019t buy into it were nonetheless culpable for not reporting the misconduct.<\/p>\n

Those chiefs and senior chiefs who used, paid for, helped hide or knew about the system were given administrative nonjudicial punishment at commodore\u2019s mast, according to the investigation.<\/p>\n

All told, more than 15 Manchester chiefs were in cahoots with Marrero to purchase, install and use the Starlink system aboard the ship.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis agreement was a criminal conspiracy, supported by the overt act of bringing the purchased Starlink onboard USS MANCHESTER,\u201d the investigation said. \u201cAny new member of the CPO Mess which then paid into the services joined that conspiracy following the system\u2019s operational status.\u201d<\/p>\n

Records obtained by Navy Times via a Freedom of Information Act request reveal a months-long effort by Marrero to obtain, install and then conceal the chiefs Wi-Fi network from superiors, including the covert installation of a Starlink satellite dish on the outside of the Manchester.<\/p>\n

When superiors became suspicious about the existence of the network and confronted her about it, Marrero failed to come clean on multiple occasions and provided falsified documents to further mislead Manchester\u2019s commanding officer, the investigation states.<\/p>\n

Unauthorized Wi-Fi systems like the one Marrero set up are a massive no-no for a deployed Navy ship, and Marrero\u2019s crime occurred as the ship was deploying to the West Pacific, where such security concerns become even more paramount among heightened tensions with the Chinese.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe installation and usage of Starlink, without the approval of higher headquarters, poses a serious risk to mission, operational security, and information security,\u201d the investigation states.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Believe it or not, there’s even more at the source. What a shit show. Hug your DD-214 tonight ladies and gentlemen. Try not to think about how these are the people that are fighting in the forces which guard our country and our way of life and who are supposed to be prepared to give their lives in our defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A while back, in one of my\u00a0Stupid people of the week features, I mentioned the above … Scathing report indicts LCS’s entire Chief’s Mess in WiFi scandal<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":160627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[209,220,447,119,236],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teh-stoopid","category-the-floggings-will-continue-until-morale-improves","category-dick-stepping","category-navy","category-wtf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/664"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=160626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/160627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=160626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=160626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=160626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}