President Donald Trump has nominated Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Francis L. Donovan to head the U.S. Southern Command after the previous commander, Adm. Alvin Holsey, retired after 13 months, the Defense Department said Friday.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that Donovan — currently the vice commander of U.S. Special Operations Command — is in line to be the next SOUTHCOM commander, taking over from Holsey, who relinquished his post overseeing military operations in South America Dec. 12.
Hegseth publicized Holsey’s departure in an Oct. 16 X post, saying Holsey would retire at the end of this year after 37 years of service, without further context.
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The New York Times reported that Holsey had voiced concerns over lethal U.S. military strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, in support of what the Pentagon has labeled counternarcotics efforts.
Other news sources have published reports that Holsey and Hegseth clashed over these concerns and that Hegseth grew frustrated with what he perceived as Holsey’s lack of aggression in combating the alleged narcoterrorists.
On the day that Hegseth announced Holsey’s retirement, the U.S. had killed 27 individuals after launching six military strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels.
A Sept. 2 strike left two survivors clinging to the wreckage of their boat after an initial strike. SEAL Team 6, operating under the Joint Special Operations Command, killed them in a subsequent double-tap strike.
The Washington Post first reported on that strike, raising questions over whether the survivors’ killing violated international and U.S. law, which dictate that combatants who are out of the fight, defenseless, or shipwrecked are not to be targeted or killed.
The legality of the second strike, as well as the strikes in general, has repeatedly come into question by members of Congress, as well as former and current military judge advocates general.
Hegseth told reporters on Dec. 16 that the Defense Department would not release a full video of the Sept. 2 strike. The Trump administration had released a snippet of the first strike on X the day it occurred.
A day later, Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, who was JSOC commander during the Sept. 2 strike and ordered the killing of the two survivors, reportedly told lawmakers that it was possible to release portions of Pentagon footage of the strike without jeopardizing classified information.
If confirmed, Donovan would be at the helm of the controversial military strikes against the alleged drug-carrying vessels in the SOUTHCOM area of operations.
A Silver Star recipient, Donovan has served as commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division, assistant commanding general of JSOC and commanding general of Naval Amphibious Forces, Task Force 51/5thMarine Expeditionary Brigade, according to his Marine biography.
He has also held command positions with Force Recon, a battalion landing team and Marine expeditionary unit, among other assignments.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.