1st female commander to lead US Navy in Korea

By Kang Seung-woo

Capt. Lisa Franchetti

The U.S. Naval Forces Korea (USNFK) will be led by a woman commander for the first time.

The U.S. Department of Defense announced Tuesday that Capt. Lisa Franchetti, who has been selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half, or first star), will be assigned as commander of the USNFK.

The New York native will also serve as the naval component commander for United Nations Command and naval component commander for U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

Franchetti, who is currently serving as Navy military assistant to the secretary of the Navy in Washington, D.C., will replace Rear Admiral William McQuilkin, who came to Korea in September 2011. However, when she will arrive in Korea has yet to be decided, according to the Combined Forces Command (CFC).

Assuming the position, Franchetti would go down as the first female commander in the history of the USFK as well as the USNFK, the CFC added.

“Capt. Franchetti has a good reputation in the U.S. Navy and she is known for superb work,” a military source was quoted as saying by Yonhap News.

“She has no experience of working in Korea but she has handled Korean issues while in charge of naval policy.”

The new commander was commissioned in 1985 through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Program at Northwestern University, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism.

In addition, she is credited for her assignments on and off the sea as well as her command career in the Navy.

Franchetti served in the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic, Baltic, and Eastern Pacific, while commanding the USS Ross, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer.

Her personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

Starting with Franchetti, the USFK will see some more changes of command later this year.

Lt. Gen. John Johnson, commander of the Eighth U.S. Army, is scheduled to be replaced by Maj. Gen. Bernard Champoux in June, while Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti was recently named as new USFK commander, which requires Senate confirmation.