Navy Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, who was selected earlier in December to be the first woman to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, has been assigned command of the San Diego-base USS Abraham Lincoln, the Navy announced Wednesday.
Bauernschmidt previously served as the Lincoln’s executive officer — another first for a woman — from 2016-2019. After leaving the Lincoln, Bauernschmidt served as the commanding officer of the amphibious transport dock USS San Diego, a command she left in October.
“I am incredibly honored and humbled to be selected,” Bauernschmidt said in a statement. “I love leading sailors and I take that responsibility extremely seriously.”
Bauernschmidt graduated from the Naval Academy in 1994. Women from that class, the Navy said, were the first to serve on combatant ships and aircraft. She trained as a helicopter pilot and spent much of her early flying career with helicopter squadrons at Naval Air Station North Island.
She is slated to take command of the ship this coming summer, the Navy said.
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