The Navy has relieved the commanding officer of a Norfolk, Virginia-based school for its information warfare sailors, a statement announced Thursday.
Cmdr. Sarah Quemada was relieved as commander of Naval Information Warfare Training Group Norfolk by Rear Adm. Brian Harding, commander of the Naval Information Warfighting Development Center.
Quemada is the second commander of a Naval Information Warfare Training command to be removed by the Navy in roughly two months. In November, the sea service also relieved the commander of the San Diego-based schoolhouse for information warfare.
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Quemada’s relief, which was officially over a “loss of confidence in her ability to command,” is the first firing of a commanding officer this year for the Navy.
Loss of confidence is a boilerplate reason provided by the military services that can encompass anything from consistent poor performance by a command on key evaluations to personal actions like drunken driving.
A Navy official told Military.com on condition of anonymity that the reason for the firing was because there wasn’t an overall good command climate at the school. They also stressed that Quemada’s relief was not in any way related to the firing of the commander in San Diego.
It appears, based on public announcements, that the Navy fired 14 commanding officers in 2024. In 2023, the official relief total was 15. There are currently around 1,600 commanding officers in the active-duty Navy across all communities.
According to her Navy biography, Quemada enlisted in the service in 2005 as an information systems technician but quickly received a commission as an ensign in 2007.
After completing cryptologic officer training, she was assigned to Navy Information Operations Command in San Antonio, Texas. While there, she volunteered for a 390-day deployment to Afghanistan, where she performed “intelligence support to village stability operations.”
She then served as the tactical information warfare officer aboard the destroyer USS McFaul, as well as completing tours supporting Carrier Strike Group Two and Amphibious Squadron Four.
One of her last assignments before taking command of the Virginia school in June 2023 was as the officer-in-charge for a Cryptologic Warfare Group Six detachment stationed in Digby, England.
Her awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, two Joint Commendation Medals, two Navy Commendation Medals, and four Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, her biography states.
According to the Navy’s statement, Quemada has been temporarily reassigned to Naval Information Forces, while Capt. Steve McIntire will serve as the school’s commanding officer until a permanent replacement is designated.
Related: Another Navy Firing: Commander of Information Warfare School in San Diego Removed