Howe's naval career spanned nearly 36 years and included sea assignments and commands on nuclear submarines and surface warships.[8]
He began his career with the U.S. Navy in 1958 assigned to the USS Bremerton.[9]
Howe's early years in the Navy were spent in submarines.[10]
He served from 1962–1964 as a nuclear engineer on the USS George Washington (SSBN-598),the first U.S. operational ballistic missile submarine. Following that assignment,he served as Engineering Officer on the USS Patrick Henry (SSBN-599) from 1965–1967.[11]
Howe was Military Assistant to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs from 1969–1974.[12] His contributions centered on military intelligence sharing and reinforcing the U.S.-China relationship during the Cold War.[13] Howe accompanied Henry A. Kissinger on one of the Nixon administration's initial trips to China in October 1971.[14] He also accompanied President Richard M. Nixon on the historic presidential visit to China in February 1972.[12][15]
In 1992, Howe was selected by the Clinton Administration to head UNOSOM II - the UN operation in Somalia that took over from the US in May.[4] In this capacity he came under criticism for remaining physically distant from field operations[17][4] and for his pursuit of Somali military leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid, which was called a "personal vendetta."[17] The State Department and the NSC staff supported the strategy that removing Aideed would mprove stability in the region.[19]
On July 12, 1993, Howe oversaw the event Somalis call Bloody Monday.[4] According to American war correspondent Scott Peterson a group of Somali elders had gathered at a house to discuss a way to make peace to end the violence between Somali militias and the UN forces.[4] The gathering had been publicized as a peace gathering in Somali newspapers the day before the attack.[4] After being tipped off by an undercover operative, American Cobra attack helicopters launched TOW missiles and 20 mm caliber cannon fire at the structure.[4] According to a Somali survivor, American ground troops killed 15 survivors at close range with pistols, a charge American commanders deny.[4] According to the International Committee of the Red Cross there were over 200 Somali casualties.[3] Four Western journalists were killed at the scene by Somalis following the attacks.[4]
Howe claimed that the mission took out a "very key terrorist planning cell" and that no civilians were killed. He stated, "We knew what we were hitting. It was well planned."[4] The event is considered a turning point in the war as Somalis turned from wanting peace to wanting revenge, ultimately leading to the Black Hawk Down Incident.[3]Human Rights Watch declared that the attack "looked like mass murder."[20]
Personal life
Howe is the author of the 1971 book Multicrises: Seapower and Global Politics in the Missile Age[21] and the 2025 book Opportunity Lost or Mission Impossible?[22]
Howe was chairman of the board of the World Affairs Council of Jacksonville from 2006–2012.[23] The World Affairs Council of Jacksonville began its own Academic WorldQuest program in 2005, the Admiral Jonathan T. Howe Academic WorldQuest, which features a trivia-style six-round, ten-question competition.[24]
He also served as chairman of the board of Fleet Landing, and was a past president of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville.[25]
12345678910Peterson, Scott (2000). Me against my brother: at war in Somalia, Sudan, and Rwanda: a journalist reports from the battlefields of Africa. New York: Routledge. ISBN0415921988. OCLC43287853.
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