Navy official fired in Bahrain
The head of the Navy telecommunications command in Bahrain has been fired following an investigation into allegations she was involved in inappropriate relationships with other sailors, officials said.
Cmdr. Mary Ann L. Giese, commander of Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Bahrain, was relieved of her command on Saturday – a few days before she was scheduled to relinquish it anyway, according to Cmdr. Steve Mavica, spokesman for the U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet.
The Navy’s 5th Fleet Staff Judge Advocate office, based in Bahrain, conducted the investigation after receiving a complaint, Mavica said.
The relationships were “more than just platonic,” he said. There were “several inappropriate relationships … of varying degrees, not all the same,” he said.
Giese assumed command of NCTS Bahrain in January 2009 and had been slated to turn over her command on Thursday.
But Rear Adm. Edward Deets II, commander of Naval Network Warfare Command, felt her actions were significant enough to warrant removing her from command immediately, Mavica said.
Giese was to report to Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic. But she has now been assigned to administrative duties with Naval Support Activity Bahrain pending transfer from Bahrain.
No decision has been made of her next assignment, Mavica said.
Giese is the 13th Navy commanding officer to be relieved so far this year. Seventeen were fired in 2009.
Lt. Cmdr. Donald E. Hocutt, executive officer for NCTS Bahrain, has assumed command temporarily pending arrival of the permanent replacement.
Giese graduated in 1992 from the U.S. Naval Academy with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. She earned a master’s in space systems operations from the Naval Postgraduate School, which she attended from 1998 to 2000, according to her online biography.
NCTS sailors and employees are responsible for providing secure classified and unclassified voice, video and data telecommunications to surface, subsurface, air and ground forces.
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