Celebrating Black History Month: Michelle Howard, first African-American female four-star admiral

Michelle Howard, born April 30, 1960, is the first African-American female, and first female ever, to achieve the rank of four-star admiral in the US Navy.  She graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1982.

She is the first African-American woman to command a US Navy ship, the USS Rushmore in March 1999.  Howard was promoted to rear admiral in September 2007, rear admiral in August 2010, and vice admiral in August 2012.  She was promoted to admiral in July 2014.

She played a key role in rescuing Captain Richard Phillips, who was kidnapped by Somali pirates.  The story was made into a movie starring Tom Hanks.

Howard retired from the Navy in 2017 after serving 35 years.

Celebrating Black History Month: J. Paul Reason, the first African-American four-star Admiral

John Paul Reason, born March 22, 1941 in Washington, D.C., is the first African-American officer in the US Navy to become a four-star admiral.  He was accepted into the Naval Academy Class of 1965 and was commissioned as an ensign in June of that year.

He attended the Naval Nuclear power training from March to September 1966, and was assigned to the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.  In November 1996, he was promoted to four-star admiral and assigned as Commander in Chief of the United States Atlantic Fleet until he retired in 1977.