JMSDF Appointed the First Female Officer to Command a Destroyer.

Cmdr. Otani, aged 44, was born in Odai (Osaka prefecture) and graduated from Naval Academy Etajima in 1996. She was one of the first female student to graduate from this academy. It is home of the JMSDF 1st Technical School and the Officer Candidates School.

Cmdr. Otani said that she wants to set a good example in fulfilling her duties to make it easier for female Self-Defense Forces personnel who will follow, but that she will do so without putting too much pressure on herself.

In the U.S. Navy, the first woman to command a combatant ship was CDR Maureen A. Farren in 1998. In the Royal Navy, Commander Sarah West was the first woman to be appointed as commanding officer of a major warship when she assumed command of HMS Portland, a Type 23 Frigate, in 2012. The French Navy just appointed the first female officer to command a frigate in January 2016.

Cmdr. Otani is now leading about 220 crew members on Yamagiri, an Asagiri-class destroyer based in Yokosuka Naval Base. There are 10 female crew members on the ship.

Asagiri-class destroyers were built during the 1980s and are mainly tasked with ASW and ASUW missions. There are 8 vessels in the class, all of them still active today. They displace 4900 tons (full load) and are fitted with a 76mm main gun, two Phalanx CIWS, eight Harpoon anti-ship missiles, a Mk.29 Sea Sparrow SAM octuple launcher, a Mk.16 ASROC anti-submarine rocket octuple launcher and two HOS-302A triple 324 mm (12.8 in) torpedo launchers. The class can accommodate a SH-60J(K) anti-submarine helicopter.