Kamin Samuel received the 2026 Vice Admiral Samuel L. Gravely Jr. Leadership Award aboard the Battleship IOWA on October 24, 2026. The award carries the name of the late Vice Admiral. She had met him.
Samuel’s career began as the U.S. Navy’s first female African-American helicopter pilot. She served for more than nine years, and her duties included being a flight instructor, which means she went on to teach other people to fly the aircraft no Black woman had flown before her.
“To be recognized in the name of a leader whose courage, excellence, and service opened doors for me and so many others is a privilege beyond words,” she said. “I had the honor of meeting him early in my career.”
The award comes from the National Museum of the Surface Navy, which gives it to leaders it says embody Gravely’s service. “Kamin’s example and her accomplishments embody everything VADM Gravely stood for,” said Bruce D.D. MacRae, chairman of the museum’s board, “and NMSN is proud that the presentation of this award gives us the opportunity to recognize her extraordinary achievements.”
It was presented at the sixth annual Freedom of the Seas Awards Dinner, an evening marking 81 years since the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Samuel now works as a coach, a speaker, and an author, and has written “Wealth Creation for Coaches.” The woman the Navy had never had is now the one being held up as the example.
