![Black History Month: Michelle Howard, Four-Star Admiral and 38th Vice Chief of Naval Operations](https://blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2023/07/GENERIC-POST-GRAPHIC-CAREERS-2.jpg)
by Safon Floyd
February 14, 2016
Black History Month: Michelle Howard, Four-Star Admiral and 38th Vice Chief of Naval Operations
Four-star Adm. Michelle Howard currently serves as the 38th Vice Chief of Naval Operations–the first woman and the first African American to hold that position. She is the highest-ranking African American woman ever in any branch of the military. Howard is also the first African American woman to command a U.S. Navy ship, the USS Rushmore.