First female commander of a corvette crew

On Thursday, 18 November 2021 at 2 p.m., a handover of command will take place at the Warnemünde naval base on board the corvette "Magdeburg". Frigate Captain Philipp Wohlrab (38) will hand over his duties as commander along with the "Bravo" crew to Corvette Captain Bianca Seifert (40).

The old man

For more than three years, Frigate Captain Wohlrab was the "old man" for his crew. Together, they travelled many nautical miles, which took them from their home waters in the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean twice on UNIFIL missions. "Being in command of a ship and its crew is incomparable to any other assignment. To have served in the core of the navy together with this excellent crew was both a pleasure and an honour. For me, it was the most formative time of my career to date. Now it is time to say goodbye. Knowing that a soldier looks everything in the face, especially the unpleasant ones. I remember the past years with my 'Bravos' with pride. Together, at the sharp end of the armed forces, we fulfilled all the tasks assigned to us, defied adversity and, with a certain humility before the task, made our modest contribution to operational readiness. I remain deeply grateful to the men and women of the crew for what they have achieved," says the commander looking back. The new duties will take Frigate Captain Wohlrab to Norfolk, Virginia. There, the naval officer will be working in the Strategic Plans division at Supreme Allied Command Transformation (SACT).

The New

Corvette Captain Seifert successfully completed her commanding officer's examination for the K130 class corvettes in 2020. After an interim assignment in training at the Naval Operations School in Bremerhaven, she will be the first woman to take command of a corvette crew. "I am very much looking forward to this challenging and formative time as commander and am also full of enthusiasm for this new task. I am even more pleased to be able to master this time with my old crew, the 'Bravos'. I would like to thank my predecessor, Frigate Captain Philipp Wohlrab, in particular. As his old 1st officer of the watch, it is an honour for me to take over command from him now," says the future commander. From next year, the corvette "Braunschweig" is scheduled to take part in several multinational manoeuvres. The "Bravo" crew will then go to sea with a woman in command.

Comment

How much tact can a crew muster to not call their commander "the old lady"? We are sure that a creative solution can be found - after all, we know each other! The Marineforum wishes Corvette Captain Bianca Seifert the luck of the brave and safe passage at all times with her crew "Bravo" - on whatever platform that may be.

This is because with the "rotating crew" concept, there is no fixed platform allocation where the unit and crew are inextricably linked. Depending on the duration of the mission and material availability/operational capability, one of the six crews is assigned to a specific platform. This goes as far as a "flying change" in the operational area. In this way, the number of sea days of individual crews is levelled out and a certain degree of flexibility in planning is achieved. Economical use of the scarce resource of personnel.