--- title: Military History: Navy Gets First Female, African-American 4-Star Admiral | TIME description: Michelle J. Howard was previously the Navy’s first female African-American to serve as a three-star Naval officer and to command a ship. canonical: https://time.com/video/CQmmglXA/ og:title: Military History: Navy Gets First Female, African-American 4-Star Admiral og:description: Michelle J. Howard was previously the Navy’s first female African-American to serve as a three-star Naval officer and to command a ship. og:url: https://time.com/video/CQmmglXA/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/CQmmglXA/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Military History: Navy Gets First Female, African-American 4-Star Admiral twitter:description: Michelle J. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Military History: Navy Gets First Female, African-American 4-Star Admiral [Watch (HLS stream): Military History: Navy Gets First Female, African-American 4-Star Admiral](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CQmmglXA.m3u8) (1:46)  _Published 2014-07-02. Michelle J. Howard was previously the Navy’s first female African-American to serve as a three-star Naval officer and to command a ship._ --- Jul 27, 2023 4:56 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Admiral Expected to Become Navy's Top Officer Instead Retiring After 'Poor Judgement' in Relationship](/video/wFrtegHk/) ### Admiral Expected to Become Navy's Top Officer Instead Retiring After 'Poor Judgement' in Relationship [This Is the Marine President Trump Wants to Be the First Female African-American General](/video/Xb0j8wvU/) ### This Is the Marine President Trump Wants to Be the First Female African-American General [Could Navy's Laser Cannon Replace Missiles In Surface Warfare?](/video/w9CZJjbx/) ### Could Navy's Laser Cannon Replace Missiles In Surface Warfare? --- ## Transcript A pair of military firsts Tuesday, as Navy named it's name African American and first female four star admiral in the services 236 year history. To protect and defend the constitution of the United States. Both firsts came with the same person Michelle J Howard, who was previously, the Navy's first female African American to serve the three star naval officer and to command a ship. When I called to order, four- star shoulder boards for women, they didn't exist. And you folks are seeing the first set, in the history of the United States. [ NOISE ]. Howard was honored in front of a crowd of around 150. At the Women in Military Service for America memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Navy Secretary, Ray Mabus downplayed the day's historic nature of the event, saying. There's no news here, today. The navy, picked the best officer to be the VCNO. That's the only thing that happened here today. President Obama nominated Howard for the post back in November. And she was confirmed by the Senate around a week later. Howard is perhaps best known for overseeing anti- piracy operations in the Gulf of Aidan. An operation she led, freed Captain Richard Phillips in 2009. It was later turned into the major motion picture, Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks. Other branches of the military have preceded the Navy in naming female four- star officers, but all had come within the past 10 years. General Ann Dunwoody was named the first four- star female officer in US military history by the Army in 2008. She later retired in 2012. And General Janet Wolfenbarger became the first female four- star officer in the Air Force in 2012. Howard will also take over as the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, making her the second highest ranking officer in the Navy. Thanks for watching, I'm Elizabeth Hagedorn. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Military History: Navy Gets First Female, African-American 4-Star Admiral","description":"Michelle J. 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