Lt. Commander Amandine
Amandine during our meeting in Paris. Photo credit: Christina Mackenzie
Funny, playful, jovial and dynamic, Amandine will doubtless have no trouble at all adapting to her new life this summer when she ends her 16-year career as a contract officer in the French Navy to join her military husband in the United States.
So will begin a third professional life for this young mechanical engineer, who only joined the Navy in 2006 at the age of 27, "the ceiling" to sign-up as a contract officer. "I was working as a research engineer in nanotechnology at Olivetti in the Valle d'Aosta in Italy," she tells me over a cup of tea. “But what I was doing made no sense, I wanted to join the military and get moving.”
She laughingly admits that although born in Cannes, which her family (a Czech father and Vietnamese mother) left when she was a baby, “I’d never lived by the sea,” but “after doing some research, I chose the Navy.”
Wasn't she afraid of getting seasick? “No, and anyway you quickly learn to recognise that being cold, tired and hungry points to imminent seasickness, so you lie down and sleep for an hour. And then you might feel a little murky for 24 hours, the time it takes for your inner ear to adapt, but after that it's fine.”
““You have to be very humble and not hesitate to say right away if you’ve done something stupid, or you don’t know something””
Amandine wasn’t worried about the constraints of a military life, nor of the prolonged absence from her nearest and dearest, nor of the inherent promiscuity onboard ship. “I had no worries about entering a hierarchical system. It was the best decision of my life,” she adds with a big smile.
Amandine spent a year training, her time split between the École Navale (Naval College) and the anti-aircraft frigate Jean Bart. “You learn to march and especially to recognise rank insignias!” There were six women in her class of about 35. Everything came extremely naturally to her, perhaps because she was “a bossy child” and despite the fact that this very sociable young woman likes to go out and party. “Strangely, I found myself reassured by the somewhat confined spaces of a ship where you share your cabin with other girls. The only private space is the bunk,” she laughs.
She remarks that every ship has its own specific odour. Searching for the word to describe this scent she opts for “sweetish”.
Amandine’s first job was as assistant head of the thermal engine department aboard a ship she was already familiar with, the Jean Bart, a non-feminised ship, meaning that the only women on board are officers. “On a non-feminised ship there are no female quarters for non-officers,” she explains. She adds that she was only once approached inappropriately by a colleague “but I quickly put him in his place.” Since then she’s never encountered this problem again even if she admits that her style of command tends to the jovial and dynamic.
Aboard ship everyone has several roles to play, so she was also a detail officer (responsible for the external maintenance of the vessel), mess treasurer and as the youngest officer in the lowest rank was also a midshipman and had to sing the menu! In her midshipman role, she also had the right, even the duty, to be a little insolent. I have no trouble imagining her wholeheartedly dedicated to those duties!
As you can see in the photos, Amandine has short hair. “But this is long compared to the really short hair I had before,” she giggles. On board it’s easier to care for. “I also don't wear makeup on board, so it only takes a minute to get ready every morning.”
Amandine aboard the La Fayette frigate. Personal photo.
Aboard the frigate La Fayette, Amandine was head of the thermal engine department. It was aboard this vessel that she underwent her true baptism of fire during Operation Harmattan off the coast of Libya when the La Fayette was being targetted by gunfire.
She was then appointed Deputy Commander of the Premier Maître L'Her. This is a high seas patrol vessel based in Brest “which rocks around a lot” with its 90 sailors on board. She says that in this job, the pivot between the mechanics and the commander, you are addressed as “Chief" and that the first time one of the sailors addressed her in these terms she got goosebumps! Even though she was very well trained for the task, Amandine nevertheless had butterflies in her stomach on her first day. “You have to be very humble and not hesitate to say right away if you've done something stupid or you don’t know something,” she suggests.
In 2013 she began a year at the IFP School in Reuil-Malmaison, “one of the worst years of my life” because the course is very demanding “but it taught me a lot intellectually.” This was followed by two years at the Pôle Écoles Méditerranée in Saint-Mandrier as head of training for non-commissioned officers and engineer officers, before returning to the La Fayette, this time as Deputy Commander.
And then she wanted a change. So she took a job that she held for two years at the Marseilles Naval Fire Battalion as head of the infrastructure department, responsible for 26 sites, including 17 barracks.
Amandine during her first participation in the 24-hour Roller race at the Le Mans circuit. Personal photo.
Today Amandine is chief of staff to the central director of the fleet support service, “the mega-boss of naval mechanics” she explains. What exactly does a chief of staff do? “I'm kind of a nerve centre. You have to be rigorous, have good interpersonal skills and great availability,” she replies.
Talking of availability, has her job left her any time for a personal life? The answer is not only yes, but an intense one. “I’ve been married for 14 years to a military man. As each of us has led their career, we’ve spent rather a lot of time living in geographic celibacy. I never wanted children myself so am very happy as step-mother to my spouse's son. I’ve been able to play rugby and I fell in love with roller derby. I’m going to be taking part for the second time in the 24-hour Roller race at the Le Mans circuit in July. As I didn’t find anyone to accompany me, I‘ll be a one-woman team.” And in down-time she plays the violin!
I wonder if she won’t be bored in Washington. “I'm leaving the Navy with no regrets. I’ve done my time. I’m now going to focus on biological methanation..."
