Capt. Neil Koprowski takes command of Naval Forces Korea during a change-of-command ceremony at Naval Fleet Headquarters in Busan, South Korea, Thursday, June 8, 2023. (David Choi/Stars and Stripes)
BUSAN, South Korea — A Navy captain whose promotion to rear admiral is blocked in the Senate became the Navy’s representative to South Korea during a ceremony here Thursday.
Capt. Neil Koprowski relieved Rear Adm. Mark Schafer at South Korea’s Naval Fleet Headquarters. Koprowski’s promotion to rear admiral is one of about 200 held up by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who pledged to block the Pentagon's nominations until Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin changes the military's policy on abortions for service members and their families.
Tuberville is using a procedural tactic to slow the Senate votes on promotions until Austin reverses a policy that provides time off and travel expenses for service members and their dependents who travel to obtain an abortion.
Koprowski previously served as branch head for the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations’ programming division in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, he commanded the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge.
Koprowski said he felt welcomed to South Korea during Thursday’s ceremony in Busan.
“I’ve been impressed by the energy and professionalism of our team …,” he said. “This only strengthens my belief in our great alliance.”
Schafer, a Navy SEAL, is headed to Qatar for his next assignment as commander of Special Operations Joint Task Force-Central.
Rear Adm. Mark Schafer bids farewell to Naval Forces Korea during a change-of-command ceremony at Naval Fleet Headquarters in Busan, South Korea, Thursday, June 8, 2023. (David Choi/Stars and Stripes)
Speaking to Stars and Stripes prior to the ceremony, Schafer said he had looked forward to leading U.S. sailors and Marines in South Korea after serving in the special operations community for years.
Since “the first day that I showed up” in September 2021, working with South Korea’s navy “definitely delivered on my expectations,” he said.
“One thing I was excited about was that after a lot of time working with a lot of partners in the U.S. Central Command’s special operations environment: coming out here and working with an ally that we’ve served with for more than 70 years,” Schafer added.
Schafer’s tenure coincided with the resumption of large-scale joint military drills between the United States and South Korea.
Joint drills like the Ssangyong Exercise in April were paused in 2018 as former Presidents Donald Trump and Moon Jae-in negotiated for the denuclearization of North Korea. Those drills were downscaled two years later as COVID-19 cases began to spread through the military’s ranks.
Restarting that training “really came easy” and the two navies were eager to start working again, Schafer said. He added that the navies aspired to be operationally interchangeable, or able to “seamlessly sail in [each other’s] formations.”
“That culture of training never ends,” he said. “For each individual exercise, we look for opportunities to be pleased with incremental progress but never satisfied we’ve got it just right.”
Schafer, a native of New Hartford, N.Y., graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1994. He served with SEAL Teams 2 and 4, as well as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group.
In a farewell speech to roughly 250 people, Schafer thanked his wife, Anne, as well as the sailors who served under his command.
“I’m grateful every day to join the hard-working sailors who strive to be smart like a learning organization would be, but also tough like the resilient team that we need to be,” Schafer said in his speech. “Anne and I have loved every minute of serving with you.”
