Michelle Howard
Michelle Howard is a rear admiral of the United States Navy, who, in April 2009, is in command of Task Force 151, a multinational naval force responsible for active counter-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia. She flies her flag in USS Boxer (LHD-4).
She is a 1982 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and received a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in 1998. Her first sea tours were on the submarine tender USS Hunley (AS-31) and training aircraft carrier USS Lexington (AVT-16); aboard Lexington, she received the Secretary of the Navy/Navy League Captain Winifred Collins award, given for outstanding leadership to one female officer each year.
During the Gulf War, she was Chief Engineer of the ammunition ship USS Mount Hood (AE-29) as Chief Engineer. In 1996, she was the Executive Officer of USS Tortuga (LSD-46), a Landing Ship Dock, during peacekeeping for the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, and then on a West African Training Cruise with the naval services of seven African nations.
In 1999, she took command of USS Rushmore (LSD-47), the first African American woman to command a ship in the U.S. Navy. She commanded Amphibious Ready Group 7 during tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia and maritime security operations in the North Arabian Gulf. Prior to TF 151, she was Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy.