Return from the Atalanta mission

On 15 December, the main contingent of Naval Air Wing 3 "Graf Zeppelin" returned to Germany after more than four months of deployment as part of EU Operation Atalanta. A few days earlier, the mission crew had already landed in Nordholz with the P-3C Orion after an eleven-hour flight from Djibouti. The operational contingent under the leadership of the Head of Logistics at the Naval Aviation Command, Frigate Captain Sascha Siemer, did an outstanding job under much more difficult conditions. The current measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic initially meant a 14-day quarantine in Germany for all men and women in the contingent, followed by significant restrictions on behaviour in the area of operations. Thanks to the prudent actions of all contingent members, there was no drop in operational readiness. The Commodore of MFG3 thanked the contingent on arrival in Wunstorf: "You have shown an impressive performance over the last few months! BZ!" Until the holidays, all returnees are in domestic isolation. With the completion of the contingent, the Deputy Commander of the Flying Group, Frigate Captain Thomas Szczepanski, has already taken over the contingent leadership in Germany for the renewed participation of the P-3C Orion in the EU mission Irini in the Mediterranean!

Captain at sea Oliver Ottmüller