Michael Harold "Mike" Miller (born 9 July 1952) is a former

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, and was the first active-duty officer to direct the

White House Military Office The White House Military Office (WHMO) is a department within the White House Office that provides military support for White House functions, including food service, presidential transportation, medical support, emergency medical services and hos ...

. He was the 61st Superintendent of the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

. Miller was also one of several senior officers implicated in the Fat Leonard scandal.

Education and early career

Miller was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree and commissioned at the

in 1974. He earned his "Wings of Gold" and was designated a Naval Aviator at Pensacola in January 1976. Subsequent flying tours were primarily out of NAS Cecil Field,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, flying the S-3A/B Viking on deployments around the world, including combat operations against Libya, the ''

Achille Lauro Achille Lauro (; 16 June 1887 – 15 November 1982) was an Italian businessman and politician. He is widely considered one of the main precursors of modern populism in Italian politics. He was nicknamed by his supporters ''Il Comandante'' ("Th ...

'' incident, and squadron command of VS-24 in the Persian Gulf during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Miller's shore assignments include duty as Flag Lieutenant and Aide to the Deputy Commander in Chief, U. S. Atlantic Fleet (1979), Chief Staff Officer to Sea Strike Wing One (1986), and Executive Assistant to the Commander, Naval Air Forces Pacific (1994). Miller has served at sea as Air Operations Officer for Commander, Carrier Group 8, Executive Officer on board , and in command of the Third Fleet Flagship, . During this tour, he was responsible for a state-of-the-art technology infusion into the command ship for the eastern Pacific.

Career

Following ''Coronado'', Miller was assigned as the Operations Officer for the Seventh Fleet on board , home ported in Yokosuka,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He returned to ''John F. Kennedy'' in August 1999 as her 23rd Commanding Officer, and left almost immediately for an extended deployment to the Persian Gulf. He reported for duty as the deputy director of the White House Military Office (WHMO) in November 2000. Miller was commissioned as a Deputy Assistant to the President and the first-ever active duty Director of the

in November 2002. Miller assumed command of

Carrier Strike Group A carrier strike group (CSG) is a type of carrier battle group of the United States Navy. It is an operational formation composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, usually an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer Squadron (naval), squad ...

Seven/''Ronald Reagan'' Strike Group on 15 April 2005. His next posting in 2008 was as Chief of the Navy's Office of Legislative Affairs.

Superintendent

On 3 August 2010, Miller relieved Vice Admiral Jeffrey Fowler as Superintendent of the

. On 23 July 2014, Vice Admiral

Walter E. Carter Jr. Walter Edward "Ted" Carter Jr. (born 4 November 1959) is an American academic administrator and retired United States Navy Vice admiral (United States), vice admiral. He has been serving as the 17th and current president of Ohio State University ...

relieved Miller as Superintendent. Secretary of the Navy

Ray Mabus Raymond Edwin Mabus Jr. (; born October 11, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2017. Mabus previo ...

presented the

Navy Distinguished Service Medal The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military decoration of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps which was first created in 1919 and is presented to Sailors and Marines to recognize distinguished and exceptionally meritorio ...

as an end-of-tour award to Miller. During the ceremony, Miller had been slated to retire after 40 years of active naval service.

Corruption scandal

Miller was one of several Navy flag officers implicated for his involvement in the Fat Leonard scandal. In February 2015, Miller received a Letter of

Censure A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. In parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a sp ...

from

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

for his actions involving Glenn Marine Defense Asia (GDMA), while serving as the Carrier Strike Group Commander. The censure was based on Miller's conduct from 2006-07 which, "... while heydidn’t rise to the level of a crime, were considered violations of the Navy’s own ethical standards".

Retirement

Miller retired from the Navy on 1 August 2015, after over 41 years of service.

Awards and decorations

References

External links

United States Navy biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Michael H. United States Navy admirals United States Naval Academy alumni People from Minot, North Dakota Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Air Medal Living people 1952 births Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Superintendents of the United States Naval Academy