For the first time, a woman takes over the leadership of a German naval base, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
"This is a return to a home that I love, to familiar waters,", said the new minesweeper squadron commander Inka von Puttkammer at the naval base in the northern city of Kiel.
Together with another servicewoman, she is the first woman to become a commander in the naval forces. In Kiel, she was the commander of the minesweeper "Homburg". and deputy commander of a minesweeper squadron.
Born in Wilhelmshaven, the 41-year-old wants to be a role model. "The armed forces offer me and my husband the opportunity to hold leadership positions and be able to combine that with family life," she said.
"Without a doubt, it is stressful and requires a lot of organization and advance planning, but it is possible," Von Putkammer pointed out.
She would like the change of command staff to be accompanied by the message that Germany's armed forces allow women to occupy such positions.
The squadron includes 10 mine search and disposal ships. Sailors recently discovered a 1.8-ton British mine during an exercise in the Kiel Fjord. According to police reports, it is the largest unexploded World War II bomb ever found in the state of Schleswig-Holstein.