Colonel Petra Lovetinska Seipel was born and raised in communist Czechoslovakia and moved to Washington, DC in 1992. Upon graduation from DC Public Schools in summer of 1996, she matriculated at The Citadel as one of its first female cadets. She graduated from The Citadel in 2000, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She received her US citizenship as an Act of Congress in order to join the Marines. Col Seipel was commissioned in 2000 and graduated from the Basic School in June 2001. She was assigned the 6602 Aviation Supply Officer Military Occupational Specialty.
As a company grade officer, she was assigned to Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron (MALS) 13, Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 13, MCAS Yuma, AZ. She deployed aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard as part of Task Force West in support of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF). In May 2004, she transferred to Commander, Naval Air Forces (CNAF) in Norfolk, Virginia and served as the Flight Hour Program Manager and subsequently as the L-Class Readiness Officer. In June 2008, she was assigned to MALS 26, MAG 26, MCAS New River, NC as the Assistant Aviation Supply Officer and deployed to Al Asad, Iraq in support of OIF. She finished her tour at MALS 26 as the Operations Officer and was promoted to the rank of Major.
As a field grade officer, she served as the Aviation Supply Officer for MALS 29, MAG 29, MCAS New River. During this time, she was selected for the Naval Postgraduate School. She earned a Master of Business Administration in Material Logistics Support and reported to Marine Corps Logistics Command (LOGCOM), Albany, GA for her utilization tour in 2014. In July 2017, she transferred to the U.S. Naval Supply System Command Weapon System Support (NAVSUP WSS) in Philadelphia, PA where she served as the Aviation Outfitting and Allowancing Department Head. In 2018 Col Seipel assumed the duties of III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group (MIG) Executive Officer. After three years as the XO, Col Seipel attended the Marine Corps War College in Quantico, VA. Upon completion of Top Level School, Col Seipel reported to 1st MAW, Okinawa, Japan to serve as the Deputy AC/S Aviation Logistics Department (ALD). Upon promotion to Colonel, Col Seipel transferred to 3d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (3d MEB) to serve as the AC/S G-4/Task Force 76/3 L4. She currently serves as the 3d MEB Chief of Staff.
Colonel Seipel is a graduate of resident Expeditionary Warfare School, Command and Staff Distance Education Program (with Distinction), Air War College (non-resident), the Marine Corps War College, and the Advanced Program in Logistics and Technology course from UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. She earned an MBA from Naval Postgraduate School, MA in International Relations from Norwich University, and MS in Strategic Studies from the Marine Corps War College.