Gambiaj.com – (WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The admiral overseeing US Southern Command, which has responsibility for forces in the Caribbean, where the US has carried out multiple legally ambiguous strikes against alleged drug cartels, is retiring one year into his tenure, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a social media post on X on Thursday.
The news comes just days after the US military conducted its fifth known strike on a boat alleged to be trafficking drugs off the coast of Venezuela, killing six people.
It also comes one day after President Donald Trump said publicly that he had authorized the CIA to operate inside Venezuela to clamp down on the flow of drugs and migrants. Also on Wednesday, US Air Force B-52 bombers flew off the coast of Venezuela for more than four hours, CNN previously reported.
Tensions had been simmering between Hegseth and Adm. Alvin Holsey for weeks before the admiral announced he was leaving, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Hegseth did not believe Holsey was moving quickly or aggressively enough to combat drug traffickers in the Caribbean, and he complained about not being given the information he needed about the operations, the sources said.
But SOUTHCOM was concerned about the operations not being lawful, the sources added.
The tensions came to a head during a meeting between Hegseth, Holsey and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine on October 6 at the Pentagon, one of the sources said.
Holsey offered to resign during the meeting, the source said, but the idea was tabled, and his departure was not announced until over a week later. His departure will also not be imminent — instead, he’ll retire at the end of the year.
The Pentagon’s spokesperson Sean Parnell denied on X that Holsey ever expressed reservations about the counter-narcotic mission in the Caribbean.
Holsey confirmed in a statement on X that on December 12, 2025, “I will retire from the US Navy.”
“Serving as your commander and deputy for the past 34 months has been a tremendous honor,” Holsey wrote. “The SOUTHCOM team has made lasting contributions to the defense of our nation and will continue to do so. I am confident that you will forge ahead, focused on your mission that strengthens our nation and ensures its longevity as a beacon of freedom around the globe.”
Neither the US Navy nor Southern Command has responded to a request for comment.
Holsey was sworn in as the commander of Southern Command in November 2024.
Holsey’s predecessor, Army Gen. Laura Richardson, served as the Southern Command commander from 2021 to 2025 before retiring.
Holsey has served in uniform for 37 years since commissioning from the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1988, according to his official Navy biography.
His previous assignments have included commander of the Navy’s Carrier Strike Group One, an operations officer in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and most recently, the Military Deputy Commander at Southern Command.
“On behalf of the Department of War, we extend our deepest gratitude to Admiral Alvin Holsey for his more than 37 years of distinguished service to our nation as he plans to retire at year’s end,” Hegseth said in his X post.
Hegseth has replaced a number of senior officers across the military since taking over as Secretary this year, including by firing former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown; Adm. Lisa Franchetti, former Chief of Naval Operations; Gen. James Slife, former vice chief of staff of the Air Force; and Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, former head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency.
