SOUTHCOM to host change-of-command ceremony on Nov. 7
DORAL, FL – U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Alvin Holsey is scheduled to assume duties as commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) from U.S. Army Gen. Laura J. Richardson during a change-of command ceremony 1 p.m. on Nov. 7, 2024, at the command’s headquarters.
Holsey will make history when he assumes command duties by becoming the first African American to lead SOUTHCOM since the organization took on its mission more than six decades ago. The U.S. Senate confirmed Holsey’s presidential nomination in Sept. 24.
He previously served as the Military Deputy commander at SOUTHCOM and will be promoted to the rank of admiral before the ceremony.
The Georgia native already made history as the inaugural commander of the International Maritime Security Construct / Coalition Task Force Sentinel tasked with ensuring freedom of navigation, adherence to international law, free flow of commerce, and the stability of maritime commons in the Middle East.
His career assignments include tours as deputy director for operations at the National Military Command Center for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and deputy chief of naval personnel at Navy Personnel Command.
Holsey was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program at Morehouse College in 1988, where he received a degree in Computer Science. In 1995, he earned a Master of Science in management from Troy State University, and in 2010, he attended the Joint Forces Staff college.
He has been deployed several times aboard U.S. Navy frigates and cruisers, as well as missions flying the SH-2F Seasprite and SH-60B Seahawk helicopters. He commanded Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light Three Seven (HSL-37); the U.S. Navy’s first hybrid electric propulsion warship, USS Makin Island (LHD 8); and Carrier Strike Group One aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, (CVN 70).
At sea, he deployed with USS Jesse L. Brown (FF 1089), USS Nicholson (DD 982), USS Vreeland (FF 1068), USS Vella Gulf (CG 72), USS Gettysburg (CG 64), and USS Simpson (FFG 56).
His military decorations include the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (five awards), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (four awards), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and various unit, campaign and service awards.
Laura J. Richardson, on the other hand, will retire after more than four decades of military service as a decorated Army officer and distinguished aviator that included leadership roles in various assignments from the Company to the Theater level, as well as deployments to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Richardson’s career also includes assignments as Military Aide to the Vice President at the White House, Chief of Army Legislative Liaison to the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C., as a U.S. Army campaign planner at the Pentagon, and Deputy Commanding General of U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, among others.
Native of Northglenn, Colorado, and a graduate of Metropolitan State University of Denver, she holds a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University’s Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy.
Richardson assumed command of SOUTHCOM Oct. 29, 2021, during a history-making ceremony in which she became the first woman general to lead the U.S. combatant command.
Under her leadership, SOUTHCOM conducted numerous operations directly supporting regional security, increased security cooperation with regional defense and security partners, and optimized its multinational exercise program to strengthen the region’s collective security capacity and bolster interoperability.
She also led the command’s critical support to partner nation efforts aimed at disrupting the activities of transnational criminal organizations and malign state actors; including illicit trafficking; human smuggling; illegal, unregulated, and underreported fishing; and cyberattacks.
SOUTHCOM is one of the nation’s six geographically focused unified commands. The command is responsible for U.S. defense and security cooperation with partner nations in the Caribbean, Central America and South America, as well as U.S. military operations sin the region.