Admiral Michelle Howard Highest-Ranking Female Officer in U.S. Navy History

We recently posted about Jude Terry, the first woman admiral in the history of the British Royal Navy. On her appointment, Admiral Terry commented that the fact that she is a woman is irrelevant to her post and rank – simply “someone has to be first” and she most definitely will not be the last.

Admiral Terry’s appointment also seems like a good time to acknowledge the progress toward gender equality in the US Navy in the last half-century. This is not meant as a criticism of Great Britain, which saw its first female head of state in Mary Tudor, almost 500 years ago, a milestone that the United States has yet to reach. 

Nevertheless, the US Navy appointed its first female admiral 50 years ago when Alene Duerk, director of the Navy Nurse Corps, was made Rear Admiral in 1972. Since then, by my count, 100 female officers have served or continue to serve in the rank of Admiral in the US Navy.

Since then female flag officers have served in a wide range of roles within the Navy. A few milestones:

• In 1976, Fran McKee became the first woman line officer to be selected for flag rank. She earned her second star in 1978.
• In 1990, Rear Admiral Marsha J. Evans became the first woman to command a Naval Station.
• In 1996, Patricia Ann Tracey became the first female three-star officer (vice admiral) in the Navy.
• In 1998, Lillian Fishburne became the first African-American woman promoted to flag rank.
• In 2006, Carol M. Pottenger became the first woman to command an expeditionary strike group in the Navy.
• In 2010, Nora Tyson became the first woman to command a carrier strike group in the Navy.
• In 2012, Robin Braun became the first female commander of the Navy Reserve, making her the first female three-star aviator and the first woman to lead any Reserve component of the military.
• In 2014, Michelle J. Howard became the first female four-star admiral in the Navy.
• In 2014, Jan E. Tighe became the first woman to command a numbered fleet when she assumed command of the Navy’s Tenth Fleet.
• In 2015, Nora Tyson was installed as the commander of the Navy’s Third Fleet, making her the first woman to lead a navy operational fleet.

As of 2020, there were 69,629 total women on active duty in the US Navy, with 11,076 serving as officers, and 58,553 enlisted. Of all the branches in the US military, the Navy has the second highest percentage of female active duty service members (after the US Air Force) with women making up 20% of the US Navy.