A Navy helicopter pilot has become the first woman to command a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier on deployment.
Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, commanding officer of the USS Abraham Lincoln, set sail for the western Pacific from San Diego on Monday after nine months of training exercises.
‘This is an amazing day,’ she said. ‘They are going to do exceptional work out there, and I just can’t wait to watch them succeed.’
The deployment comes after five sailors were killed during training in September when their helicopter crashed into the carrier’s flight deck and tumbled into the sea.
Bauernschmidt, who came through the ranks flying helicopters, had only been in command 12 days when the tragedy struck.
‘It is always a tough experience and no one is prepared for something like that – everyone deals with it in their own way,’ she said. ‘It was a tough day that none of us will ever forget.’
Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt (addressing sailors on Monday), commanding officer of the USS Abraham Lincoln, set sail for the western Pacific from San Diego on Monday after nine months of training and work-ups
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Lincoln sets sail from San Diego on Monday
Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt during a cake-cutting ceremony in November
The warship sets sail amid soaring tensions between China and Taiwan, as well as other US-backed nations throughout the South China Sea and Pacific which are facing increasingly hostile action by Beijing.
Rear Adm. Jeffrey Anderson, the Lincoln carrier strike group commander, did not address those ongoing foreign policy matters during a press conference on Monday.
He did, however, comment on the surging coronavirus infections across the nation which have been spurred by the highly-infectious Omicron variant.
Captain Amy Bauernschmidt, commanding officer of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln
‘We do have some positive cases within the strike group,’ Anderson said. ‘But … we’re extremely confident that we can safely and effectively execute our mission.’
All US sailors were required to be fully vaccinated by November 28 as per President Joe Biden’s federal mandate. Anderson said 100 percent of the strikeforce crew were vaccinated.
Marines who refused the jab are being booted from the Corps and the Navy is preparing to do the same with sailors who refuse.
The deployment is the latest achievement in a meteoric rise for Bauernschmidt who made history in 2016 when she became the first female executive officer (second in command) of a nuclear aircraft carrier, the Lincoln.
‘These sailors are incredible professionals who have trained exceptionally hard to ensure they are ready for any operational obligations required of us on deployment,’ Bauernschmidt said in a Navy news release.
‘They are absolutely prepared for today’s deployment, and I have no doubt they will represent our nation proudly as we defend our national interests.’
Bauernschmidt, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, graduated from the Naval Academy in 1994, the same year women were allowed to serve on combat ships and planes.
A man rows past the Lincoln as she sets sail on Monday under its first ever woman captain
A tug boat is seen beside the Lincoln on Monday
‘That law absolutely changed my life,’ Bauernschmidt told CBS News in 2018. ‘We were the first class that graduated knowing and feeling honored with the privilege to be able to go serve along the rest of our comrades in combat.
‘There are a lot of times in life that you’re a little nervous or afraid to do something, ’cause you think you’re gonna fail. Well, so what? I mean… what’s the worst that’s gonna happen if I fail?’ Bauernschmidt said. ‘You know, If you fail you get up and you may realize in that failure that what you’re really meant to do is something else.’
She received her wings as a naval aviator in 1996 and flew with the Helicopter Ant-submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 45 ‘Wolfpack’ in San Diego.
She also deployed with the destroyer USS John Young as part of maritime operations in the Northern Arabian Gulf.
Later, she was chosen to command Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 70, supporting Operation Enduring Freedom aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush.
Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt was selected for the position by the fiscal year 2022 aviation major command screen board. She is pictured here in 2016
‘I hope that I’m a good leader and a mentor to both men and women in the service. But I’ve still a little uncomfortable with it, but I’m growing to appreciate the role and the fact that if you can see it, you know, you can believe it,’ Bauernschmidt said during a 2016 interview
Bauernschmidt has accumulated more than 3,000 flight hours in naval helicopters aboard various aircraft carriers throughout her career and has served in areas from Alaska to Southwest Asia according to her Navy biography.
Bauernschmidt is currently the commanding officer of the amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego.
‘I hope that I’m a good leader and a mentor to both men and women in the service,’ Bauernschmidt said.
Service is about ‘contributing to something greater than yourself,’ Bauernschmidt told CBS News.
‘For me, it is about supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States. But it’s also about these young men and women that I lead every day,’ she said. ‘They’re pretty awesome.’