Navy relieves Bahrain network CO

[unhappycamper]

Cmdr. Mary Ann Giese, inset, commanding officer of Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Bahrain, was relieved Aug. 21 after Navy officials said an investigation found Giese was conducting "inappropriate relationships" with other people in her command. Above, the headquarters of Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain.



By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Aug 22, 2010 10:24:51 EDT

The officer responsible for the Navy’s computer networks across the Middle East was fired Saturday after an investigation discovered she was carrying on “inappropriate relationships” with other people in her command, the service announced.

Cmdr. Mary Ann Giese, of Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Bahrain, was relieved of command by Rear Adm. Edward Deets, head of Naval Network Warfare Command, after “a preliminary investigation into allegations that she had been involved in inappropriate relationships with other Navy personnel,” according to a statement from 10th Fleet. “The investigation results call into question Giese’s ability to continue to effectively lead in her command.”

The executive officer of NCTS Bahrain, Lt. Cmdr. Donald E. Hocutt, has temporarily taken command until the Navy names a permanent replacement.

The office is the hub of the Navy’s information network in the Middle East, said 10th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Steve Mavica — it oversees e-mail, secure and non-secure networks, and almost every other information link for Navy units in Central Command. Giese’s relief was not expected to have any effect on the Navy’s computer networks.

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Giese is the 13th skipper fired in 2010 and the third since Aug. 12. Fifteen commanding officers were fired in 2009, according to Navy and Navy Times records. Since 2000, 143 Navy skippers have been relieved for cause — or, from 2000 through last year, an average of 13.2 firings per year. The highest annual total over that time span, 26 firings, was recorded in 2003.