Navy officer demoted after installing unauthorized satellite dish on warship to access internet

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A U.S. Navy chief who wanted the internet so she and other enlisted officers could scroll social media, check sports scores and watch movies while deployed had an unauthorized Starlink satellite dish installed on a warship and lied to her commanding officer to keep it secret, according to investigators.

Internet access is restricted while a ship is underway to maintain bandwidth for military operations and to protect against cybersecurity threats.

The Navy quietly relieved Grisel Marrero, a command senior chief of the littoral combat ship USS Manchester, in August or September 2023, and released information on parts of the investigation this week.

The Navy Times was first to report on the details.

Marrero, a former information systems technician, and senior leaders paid $2,800 for the Starlink High Performance Kit and had it installed in April 2023 prior to deployment of the San Diego-based Manchester, according to the investigation.

She and more than a dozen other chief petty officers used it to send messages home and keep up with the news and bought signal amplifiers during a stop in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, after they realized the wireless signal did not cover all areas of the ship, according to the investigation.

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