Well in keeping with the Obama Administration to undermine our military and make it a social experiment, the Pentagon appointed the first Female 4 Star Admiral...

Michelle Janine Howard... 54 yrs old...

I know it is my 'racist' eye sight.. but she looks Black....



But of course I know that doesn't have a thing to do with it... it is all based on her stellar military command potential and her fast track career based on her patriotism..

her skin color or sex has NOTHING to do with this milestone in our nation's military history...

John, I think you've just killed Jorge! Don't let him see what's become of his beloved Navy. You'll send him off to valhala too early!

What did this woman do to earn such rank - did she command some significant action during a war - is she a top-flight naval battle strategist - can she drive a big boat? Otherwise, why?

I sincerely hope she proves you guys wrong. I fear you are perfectly correct in how she got there, mind you. I just hope she performs far above expectations.

Put her on submarine duty.

The face of Obama's new Milquetoast Military.

Where race and political correctness are the stock in trade of the Beltway warrior.

[b][color:#3333FF]Link...![/color][/b]


Vice Admiral Howard is a 1978 graduate of Gateway High School in Aurora, Colorado. She graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1982 and from the Army�s Command and General Staff College in 1998, with a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences.

Howard�s initial sea tours were aboard USS Hunley (AS 31) and USS Lexington (AVT 16). While serving on board 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 on board 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. Sixty 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 March 12, 1999, becoming the first African American woman to command a ship in the U.S. Navy. Howard was the commander of Amphibious Squadron Seven from May 2004 to September 2005. Deploying with Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 5, operations included tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia and maritime security operations in the North Arabian Gulf. She commanded Expeditionary Strike Group Two from April 2009 to July 2010. In 2009, she deployed to CENTCOM theater, where she commanded Task Force 151, Multi-national Counter-piracy effort, and Task Force 51, Expeditionary Forces. In 2010, she was the Maritime Task Force commander for BALTOPS, under 6th Fleet.

Her shore assignments include: J-3, Global Operations, Readiness and executive assistant to the Joint Staff director of Operations; deputy director N3 on the OPNAV staff; deputy director, Expeditionary Warfare Division, OPNAV staff; senior military assistant to the secretary of the Navy; Chief of Staff to the director for Strategic Plans and Policy, J-5, Joint Staff, deputy commander, US Fleet Forces Command, and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans & Strategy (N3/N5).

She will assume duties as the 38th Vice Chief of Naval Operations.

It's not fair to hammer the knee jerks with facts and a solid resume.

You think she is more qualified than anyone else in the Navy?

Not trying to hammer anybody...

I never served so I don't know much, but just posted her resume so those in The Know could read it..

Sounds like a bunch of fluff to me...Tsunami relief, peacekeeping in Yugoslavia, etc,..?

The problem with affirmative action (well, one problem among many) is that is tends to cause doubts in the minds of reasonable people that the achievements of racial minorities and women are based on merit.

...........Or her sexual orientation or political party affiliation.

Gonna put her in charge of POTS & PANS!!

How many eyelids can that epidermis support?

We are talking a Navy that has not been in ship to ship combat of any importance since WW2. Really, they haul azz and trash. All support of ground actions or air strikes. So really, how much actual combat experience does any commanding officer have, male or female?

Also, she's a female Obama. Father is black and mother British (assuming white) She is married to a retired Marine

Sad, rock solid truth, undergirded by �.

by looking at her eyes i would bet she is a alcoholic

So do I Rocky....

not for her sake, but the Sailors and Naval Officers under her command...

I'm all in favor of promotion based on merit, and without to skin color, political affiliation etc... but sadly any more that doesn't seem to be how it is done...

OUTstanding....

I didn't know the Hunley was still in service by then.. We were tied up to it briefly in, IIRC, '69 when I was on Razorback.

From her history it appears the rank is justly deserved. Personally I don't give a rat's azz about her gender or her race - if she fits the bill she gets to star..

JM 02..

Do we have any Naval officers at all who've commanded a ship in combat? They've all been support missions for land operations. We haven't had a sea war for a few years so none of them have experience.

That all seems pretty sterile to me. Shows what she's been awarded with, but not the why, doesn't mention anything about her performance. For all I can tell, she's a bootlicker who was promoted for the same reasons as "Colon" Powell.

Capital ships haven't slugged it out in quite a while but the surface Navy has continued to do what they've done since 1775. Keeping the sea lanes of commerce open, freedom of navigation, support to land operations.

That has involved combat operations, even if it's deploying RIBs to board pirates and they did considerable shelling and take over of oil platforms in the Arabian Sea.

It's fun to mock the shoes (and they deserve it!) but they are still out there doing what they've always done and that isn't always the Battle of Jutland type stuff.

On this promotion, I don't know her or anyone who has served under her but being promoted to flag has very very rarely been about being the best officer. It is 95% of the time a political decision. I know superb Captains who would have made great Admirals that retired as 0-6's because of the political aspect. In this day of joint operations and commands the politics have gotten worse. Note she went to the trade school. Up to 0-6 where you got your commission matters little in the Navy. The disproportionate number of Admirals that went to the Academy is not because they are better officer than other commissioning sources but another political aspect. Admirals pick the next crop of flags and there is a bias.

Whenever you discuss high ranking commissioned officers or SES level positions, merit will rarely have anything to do with their achieving what they achieved.



Travis

She was a year behind my year group, so obviously,she did a hell of a lot better than me. She was a surface officer by trade and held several commands ashore and at sea. No combat experience, even though her bio states she was in command of the task force that one of the destroyers intercepted and rescued that civilian captain from the Somali Pirates (BTW, the CO of that ship, a Commander by rank, was the one who took the initiative clearing the SEALS to engage and kill the pirates).


Contrast that to say a friend of mine (and Pugs') who flew combat missions during Desert Storm and Yugoslavia, commanded a squadron, an amphibious assault ship and TWO aircraft Carriers, in addition to all the "tickets", Joint Staff, etc. He did not select for Admiral and was forced to retire at thirty years. He is white, about 6'5", blue eyes of German/Italian descent. So you guys tell me. BTW, her current gig, that of Vice-Chief Of Naval Operations, is an administrative position. The last time I dealt with a VCNO, his name was (is) Stan Arthur, four combat tours in Vietnam, ELEVEN DFCs, commanded squadrons,aircraft carrier, Battle Group and had overall command of all Naval Air Forces during Desert Storm. He was slated to be PACOM, but was forced to retire because he endorsed the findings of an evaluation board that recommended termination of a FEMALE flight Student. Oh and they also said he was fat. That said, I'm sure she would have done as good a job as Ray Spruance at Midway, and personally, IDGAF anymore. And I do wish her well.

No combat Experience�

So how four stars?

Eleven? Day-um sam.

Must have had more lives than a black cat.

I have met the man jorge describes, and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he was not only admiral material, but would have been a superb four-star. His problem? He fell victim to the ring-knockers.

(That's what we AF types call academy grads. It is believed that such officers discretely tap their academy rings against the table during senior promotion board interviews, as a sort of secret society signal. Hence, ring-knockers.)

You don't generally get to be a flag officer if you aren't at least somewhat competent and accomplished. However, those that make it to the top in today's military are generally pretty politically astute and bend with the political correctness wind. I worked under a female general one time. She was very political, well connected and not particularity competent. She went on to become a 3 star general before retiring.

See Pugs' post. In peacetime,someone can be judged for their operational acumen and grasp of strategy, tactics, etc, without actually testing combat skills and realistically, the Navy has not been engaged in a war at sea for a long time now. We still have (had) plenty of Admirals in the Submarine and Surface disciplines without combat experience. I'm ok with that and I am not passing judgment on her talents and skills, I just don't think women belong in the combat arms.

Rock: while there are some vestiges of the "Ring Knocker" pre-requisite, many have made it to four stars without the ring. (Arthur retired as a four star and the man I worked for, Mike Boorda, came up through the ranks as an E-1. An anomaly to be sure, but still, the services have abused the affirmative action tactic so much, that even if she was ALL TALENT, she and many others would never shed themselves of that albatross. Hell, even yours truly has been accused of being an "Affirmative Action Aviator"

Here�s a picture of these two talking about it in the hereafter. Note Halsey�s expression.

She�ll be the next CNO as sure as I�m sitting here; the god of political correctness demands it.

Women do not belong in the military. (I hope I�m still allowed to have that opinion.)

Halsey was one tough SOB... My father was under his command briefly in WWII and said NOBODY effed with Halsey.. I honestly regret that I would never have been, or would be, able to meet that Admiral..

Dang it - my feeble memory cannot recall the officer on the left, but I should know it like my own name..

Isn't it Nimitz?


Travis

Actually, CNO would be a good fit for her. "CNO" is like the being the Queen Of England. When Goldwater-Nichols was adopted, Operational powers lie through the Area Commanders (formerly CINCPAC etc and now PACOM). The CNO's role is purely administrative and as an advisor to the President through the Joint Chiefs Of Staff. She would have (and has) little to do with operational decisions.

Well I�ll certainly defer to your superior knowledge of that realm but I�ll reserve the right hold the opinion that neither she, nor any other �she� belongs in that position.

That generation was a whole other level of bad-ass.

There ya go... Yep.. For some reason all I could think of was Adm. King or Adm. Lockwood.

Why you ask ..... Affirmative Action

I think the world is past due for having another one of those big war thingies.



Travis

I can think of no one less qualified and more undeserving of promotion to flag rank than ADM Howard. She was the First Lieutenant and safety officer when I was aboard the USS Flint (AE-32) in the early '90s. Among ADM Howard's list of many resume-worthy badges was a sailor in her department killed in a shipboard accident on 10-7-93 while the Flint was moored at NSC Oakland. A subsequent investigation revealed a culture of disregard for safety including a complete lack of internal safety audits and lack of training in proper maintenance and clearance procedure. ADM Howard was ultimately reprimanded while the-then CO, CDR Patrick Sharrett was relieved of command. And now ADM Howard gets another star.

Holy $hit!