Austin's four nominees to the commission, announced by the Pentagon on Friday, include retired Adm. Michelle Howard, the former vice chief of naval operations and the highest-ranking woman and African American in the Navy's history. She is joined by retired Gen. Robert Neller, former Marine Corps commandant; Dr. Kori Schake, a widely respected military scholar and director of Foreign & Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute; and retired Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, the professor emeritus of history at the American Enterprise Institute.
Howard, who was previously named to President Joe Biden's defense transition team, served in the Navy from 1982 to 2017 and was commander of United States Naval Forces Europe before becoming VCNO in 2014. Neller, who served as head of Marine Corps Forces Command before becoming commandant in 2015, wrote a lengthy open letter "to America" urging racial reckoning in the wake of George Floyd's death last June.