Michelle J. Howard

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Michelle Janine Howard
1960 - present

Official Navy photo of Rear Admiral Michelle J. Howard
Service/branch Navy
Years of service 1978-present
Rank Rear Admiral lower half
Unit Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy
Commands held USS Hunley (AS-31), USS Lexington (AVT-16), USS Mount Hood (AE-29), USS Flint (AE-32), executive officer, USS Tortuga (LSD-46), USS Rushmore (LSD-47), Commander of Amphibious Squadron 7.
Awards Secretary of the Navy/Navy League Captain Winifred Collins Award, 1987; Navy Commendation Medal (four awards); Navy Achievement Medal; National Defense Medal; Armed Forces Service Medal; NATO Medal; Kuwaiti Liberation Medal; Saudi Arabia Defense Medal.

Michelle J. Howard (born 1960) was the first African-American woman to command a ship in the United States Navy. In 2006, she was selected for the rank of Rear Admiral lower half, making her the first admiral selected from the U. S. Naval Academy class of 1982 and the first woman graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy selected for Admiral.

[edit] Military Biography

Rear Admiral Howard’s initial sea tours were aboard USS Hunley and USS Lexington (AVT-16). While serving on board Lexington, she received the Secretary of the Navy/Navy League Captain Winifred Collins award in May 1987. This award is given to one woman officer a year for outstanding leadership. She reported to USS Mount Hood (AE-29) as Chief Engineer in 1990 and served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. She assumed duties as First Lieutenant on board the USS Flint (AE-32) in July 1992. In January 1996, she became the Executive Officer of USS Tortuga (LSD-46) and deployed to the Adriatic in support of Operation Joint Endeavor, a peacekeeping effort in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia. Sixty days after returning from the Mediterranean deployment, Tortuga departed on a West African Training Cruise, where the ship’s Sailors, with embarked Marines and US Coast Guard detachment, operated with the naval services of seven African nations.

She took command of USS Rushmore (LSD-47) on March 12, 1999, becoming the first African American woman to command a ship in the U.S. Navy. Rear Adm. (Sel) Howard was the Commander of Amphibious Squadron 7 from May 2004 to September 2005. Deploying with Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 5, operations included tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia and maritime security operations in the North Persian Gulf.

Her shore assignments include: Course Coordinator/Instructor for the Steam Engineering Officer of the Watch (EOOW) course; Action Officer and Navy’s liaison to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Military Services (DACOWITS) in the Bureau of Personnel; Action Officer J-3, Global Operations, Readiness on the Joint Staff from 2001-2003; Executive Assistant to the Joint Staff Director of Operations from February 2003 to February 2004; and Deputy Director N3 on the OPNAV Staff from December 2005 to July 2006.

She was the Deputy Director, Expeditionary Warfare Division, OPNAV staff from July 2006 to December 2006, and currently serves as the Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy.

Insignia of a United States Rear Admiral Lower Half
Insignia of a United States Rear Admiral Lower Half

[edit] Education

Rear Admiral Michelle Howard is a 1978 graduate of Gateway High School in Aurora, Colorado. She graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1982 and from the Army’s Command and General Staff College in 1998, with a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences.

[edit] External links