Camarillo, CA – Assemblyman and U.S. Navy Officer Jeff Gorell today offered congratulations to Admiral Michelle Howard as she become the first woman in the history of the U.S. Navy to be promoted to the rank of four-star admiral. Admiral Howard now assumes the duties of Vice-Chief of Naval Operations, the second highest position in the Navy.

“I’m proud to see Navy leaders shattering these glass ceilings,” stated Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, who was recently promoted to Commander in the Navy Reserve and serves as an intelligence officer. “Admiral Howard has made a career of showing that military leadership should never be restricted by gender, and her promotion makes me even more honored to be a Navy officer myself.”

Assemblyman Jeff Gorell has completed two one-year tours to the Middle East and Afghanistan and was decorated for his leadership in a combat zone. In 2002, Gorell led a combat camera team in Bagram, Afghanistan; and from 2011-2012, he commanded a targeting cell embedded with the U.S. Marines in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Gorell is the grandson of a Navy Seabee who fought in the Pacific during World War II, and the son of a career naval officer and Vietnam veteran.