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on What About Our Daughters
Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:51:30 GMT

Speaking of “Arks” and whatnot, here is a Black woman commanding lots of boats, except they are warships From WAOD reader Linda.

Hello,

I thought you and other readers might be interested to read more about Rear Adm. Michelle Howard. Who knew an African American woman led the task force to fight off the pirates.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103054534

http://eurthisnthat.com/african-american-female-commander-thwarts-pirates/#more-4254

Here is some background:

While we were so focused on the captain of the U.S. cargo ship that was rescued from the Somali pirates, our attention was diverted from the very person that lead the charge to get him back to his family.

The Navy Times ran a story on Rear Admiral Michelle Howard who took command of the Navy’s counterpiracy task force only three days before the pirates attacked the U.S. cargo ship Maersk Alabama and snagged the captain as a hostage.

The U.S. Navy hadn’t seen this type of action in a very long time and piracy hasn’t been something the Navy has had to counter attack in over 100 years. Howard’s expertise and illustrious Navy career showed her to be the perfect person for this mission. She is the first female graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy to be promoted to Rear Admiral.

In the article, she said, ““Right now, the policy is, fight piracy, and I am all about that policy … We are quite capable of staying out here and doing this mission.” This N That

Here is Admiral Howard’s Bio:

Rear Admiral Michelle Howard
Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group 2.
Rear Admiral Michelle Howard

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

Howard’s initial sea tours were aboard USS Hunley (AS 31) and USS Lexington (AVT 16). While serving onboard 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 onboard 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. 60 days after returning from the Mediterranean deployment, Tortuga departed on a West African Training Cruise, where the ship’s Sailors, with embarked Marines and U.S. Coast Guard detachment, operated with the naval services of seven African nations.

She took command of USS Rushmore (LSD 47) on 12 March 1999, becoming the first African American woman to command a ship in the U.S. Navy. Howard was the Commander of Amphibious Squadron 7 from May 2004 to September 2005. Deploying with Expeditionary Strike Group 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 course; action officer and Navy’s liaison to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Military Services 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 20


Mood: : Busy