🎙️'TELL IT LIKE IT IS' Black History Series Lillian E. Fishburne (1949– ): Breaking the Brass Ceiling in the U.S. Navy

From Cold War command-and-control systems to the Pentagon’s highest strategic corridors, Lillian E. Fishburne forged a historic path as the first African American woman to achieve flag rank in the United States Navy.

When Lillian E. Fishburne was promoted to Rear Admiral on February 1, 1998, she did more than reach one of the Navy’s highest ranks—she permanently altered the face of American military leadership. Promoted by President Bill Clinton, Fishburne became the first African American woman in U.S. history to attain flag rank in the Navy, capping a career defined by technical mastery, strategic vision, and barrier-breaking leadership.

Born on March 25, 1949, in Patuxent River, Maryland, Fishburne was raised in Rockville, where she attended Richard Montgomery High School. Her early academic path led her to Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1971—just as new opportunities for women in the armed forces were emerging.

In February 1973, Fishburne was commissioned as an ensign after completing training at the Women Officers School in Newport, Rhode Island. Her first assignment, at the Naval Air Test Facility in Lakehurst, New Jersey, placed her at the intersection of personnel, law, and aviation operations—an early indicator of the multidisciplinary career that would follow.

Over the next two decades, Fishburne held a series of increasingly complex leadership roles. She served as an officer programs recruiter in Miami, oversaw operations at the Naval Telecommunications Center at Great Lakes, Illinois, and later expanded her expertise through advanced education. In 1980, she earned a master’s degree in management from Webster College in St. Louis, followed by a master of science in telecommunications systems management from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

These credentials positioned Fishburne at the heart of the Navy’s command, control, and communications enterprise during a period of rapid technological change. She served with the Command, Control, and Communications Directorate for the Chief of Naval Operations and later held key assignments in Japan, Washington, D.C., and Key West, Florida.

By December 1994, Fishburne had reached one of the Pentagon’s most sensitive roles: Chief of the Command and Control Systems Support Division for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. From 1995 to 1998, she commanded the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station in Wahiawa, Hawaii—overseeing critical infrastructure that underpinned U.S. military operations across the Pacific.

Following her promotion to Rear Admiral, Fishburne served as Director of the Information Transfer Division for Space and Information Warfare under the Chief of Naval Operations. She retired from active duty in February 2001, bringing to a close a nearly three-decade career that spanned the Cold War, the digital revolution, and the dawn of modern information warfare.

Her service was recognized with some of the military’s highest honors, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, two Meritorious Service Medals, two Navy Commendation Medals, and the Navy Achievement Medal.

Married to Albert J. Sullivan and the mother of one daughter, Cherese, Fishburne’s legacy extends beyond rank and ribbons. 

In the 🎙️'TELL IT LIKE IT IS' Black History Series, she stands as a symbol of excellence, persistence, and transformation—proof that leadership at the highest levels of national defense can, and must, reflect the full diversity of the nation it serves.

“This Black History article is sponsored by Ford Motor Company.” 

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-- By Michele Robinson

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