'Wolfpack' Navy helicopter pilot will become the FIRST woman to command a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
A woman is to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for the first time in U.S. Navy history.
Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, a helicopter pilot, will be in command of one of the service's 11 nuclear aircraft carriers in 2022.
Although it is not yet known which of the vessels she will be at the helm of, Naval Air Forces have confirmed that the selection of a woman is historic.
The appointment is the latest in a meteoric rise for Bauernschmidt who made history in 2016 when she became the first female executive officer of a nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, and was second-in-command of a crew of a 5,000-strong crew.
Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt will be in command of one of the Navy's 11 nuclear aircraft carriers in 2022
In 2016 she became the first female executive officer of nuclear aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, pictured, and was second-in-command of a crew of a 5,000-strong crew
Bauernschmidt graduated from the Naval Academy in 1994, the same year women were allowed to serve on combat ships and planes
Bauernschmidt, who is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin graduated from the Naval Academy in 1994, the same year women were allowed to serve on combat ships and planes.
'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.
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.
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 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.'
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
The U.S. Navy has 11 nuclear powered aircraft carriers. Pictured, the USS Abraham Lincoln
