Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, left, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, center, the outgoing commander of U.S. Southern Command; and Air Force Lt. Gen. Evan L. Pettus, the incoming commander render salutes during the relinquishment of command ceremony in Doral, Fla., on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. Holsey, who is retiring after 37 years of service, relinquished command to Pettus. (Christopher Bermudez/U.S. Air Force)
Adm. Alvin Holsey, head of U.S. Southern Command, retired Friday with two years left in his tenure.
“This is a graduation, not a retirement. As somebody who’s been there and done that before, I can tell you life on the other side is awesome,” Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the audience.
Caine presided over the change-of-command ceremony at the command’s headquarters in Doral, Fla. Holsey formally handed over command to Air Force Lt. Gen. Evan Pettus, who currently serves as his military deputy commander. Pettus will serve as acting head of SOUTHCOM. President Donald Trump has yet to nominate Holsey’s replacement.
The change comes amid rising tensions with Venezuela from seizing an oil tanker Wednesday and more than 20 strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats.
Holsey announced his retirement in October. In a closed-door meeting with senior lawmakers on Tuesday, Holsey insisted his decision is personal and had nothing to do with the operations in his command, according to comments by Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, published in Politico.
In his farewell remarks, Holsey did not address operations or reasons for his retirement. He did urge his successor to uphold longstanding partnerships in the region by standing firmly behind the shared values of democracy and support for the rule of law.
“I concluded my final commanders conference yesterday, and I was clear with my team to be a trusted partner. We must be credible, present and engaged,” Holsey said.
Reuters reported Holsey was pushed out by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the secretary had grown frustrated with SOUTHCOM as he sought to flex U.S. military operations and planning in the region.
Spokespeople for Hegseth previously have denied that there was tension between Holsey and Hegseth.
“We extend our deepest gratitude to Admiral Alvin Holsey for his more than 37 years of distinguished service to our nation,” Hegseth said in a post on X in October.
Hegseth on Friday traveled to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., for the relocation of U.S. Space Command Headquarters and a designation ceremony.
Former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin presided over the SOUTHCOM change-of-command in November 2024.
Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey and Dr. Stephanie Holsey walk down a red carpet during the Southern Command relinquishment of command ceremony on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, in Doral, Fla. (Christopher Bermudez/U.S. Air Force)
Holsey is a native of Fort Valley, Ga., and was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program at Morehouse College in 1988. Before leading U.S. forces in Latin America, Holsey served as the military deputy commander of SOUTHCOM.
Caine pointed out that Holsey comes from a family with a long line of service. Holsey’s father served in active duty during the Korean War and six uncles also served — three in the Navy and three in the Army.
One of his two sons, Joshua, followed his father into the Navy and aviation. He is a lieutenant commander and currently flying Black Hawks off the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Pacific Ocean.
In his office, he kept a letter that had faded through the years that marked the beginning of his Navy career, according to a SOUTHCOM press release. Holsey was told as a college student he could become a Naval officer and a pilot.
“I had never flown or been in an aircraft before, and someone told me I could be a pilot, and I believed,” Holsey said.
Holsey recorded 4,000 hours of flying, an amount the chairman said he is “incredibly jealous of.”
Pettus earned his commission from the Air Force Academy in 1994. Pettus is a command pilot with more than 2,700 hours, according to his service record. He has flown combat missions in operations Northern Watch, Southern Watch, Allied Force, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and Inherent Resolve.
The U.S. military has steadily amassed troops, naval and air assets in the Caribbean Sea to strike alleged drug traffickers.
Hegseth in October announced the deployment of the Ford Carrier Strike Group. The USS Gerald R. Ford, along with accompanying ships USS Mahan, USS Bainbridge and USS Winston S. Churchill arrived last month, concentrating nearly 20% of the Navy’s deployed warships in the region.
The strike group joined other ships in the Caribbean, including the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and its embarked Marine expeditionary unit. Also patrolling the region are guided missile cruisers USS Gettysburg and USS Lake Erie.
The U.S. has conducted 22 strikes since Sept. 2 and killed at least 87 people.
Shortly after taking office, Trump designated several drug cartels as terrorist organizations, including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua. His administration has asserted that the U.S. is in an “armed conflict” with cartels and will treat their members as “unlawful combatants.”
Hegseth has fired a number of senior military officials since taking office in January. Some of the firings include Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the chief of naval operations; and the judge advocates general for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
