Michelle Howard became the first female four-star admiral and the Navy's number two officer in United States of America Navy. She will assume the duties and responsibilities as the 38th Vice Chief of Naval Operations, relieving Adm. Mark Ferguson.
Howard thanked her family and her fellow officers in front of a crowd of about 100 for their support over the years, saying that sailors embody the spirit of independence forged then and thanked sailors for the privilege to lead them.
Howard , whom critics who say she was promoted for political reasons rather than merit, a notion that both Mabus and Greenert were quick to dismiss in their remarks.
"Michelle has put in a tremendous career," Greenert said. "Thirty-two years of mainstream, at-sea, tough tours. Michelle came up through the amphibious expeditionary warfare arena and came into [Washington] and did the hard jobs that needed to be done. And so she is definitely ready to assume this position, there is no question in my mind."
Mabus said Howard was selected to four-star because she was the best qualified."The Navy chose the best officer to be the VCNO, that's the only thing that happened here today,"
A 1982 Naval Academy graduate, Howard has achieved many firsts in her career. She was the first black woman to command a ship — the amphibious dock landing ship Rushmore in 1999 — and went on to command Amphibious Squadron 7 and later Expeditionary Strike Group 2.
Howard most recently served as the deputy CNO for operations, plans and strategy. In a phone interview with Navy Times on Monday, she said she'll be focusing on "culture" issues as VCNO, especially in the areas of cyber and information security in an age of social media and online gaming.
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