DORAL, Fla.—The largest United States naval force to prowl the Caribbean in decades is steaming off Venezuela’s coast, President Donald Trump says the nation is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” against narcoterrorists, and there’s debate on the airwaves, across social media, and in Congress whether this is a war, what it all means, and where it’s going.
But at the Department of War’s Southern Command outside Miami on Dec. 12, there was only reverent praise for the retiring Navy admiral leading those forces and assurances that the air force lieutenant general succeeding him is ideally suited to assume the helm.
One of 11 Pentagon commands spanning the globe, Southern Command was considered a lower priority for a century, with the nation’s strategic and economic interests centered on Europe and Asia.
Since September, Southern Command forces led by Holsey have been destroying speedboats allegedly smuggling drugs in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific with Hellfire missiles and drones, killing at least 80 in more than 20 strikes.
His Watch Is Over
But there was little mention of all that from the podium Holsey and Pettus shared with the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Air Force Gen. Dan Caine in what was not a formal change-of-command but a “relinquishment of command” and retirement ceremony for Holsey after 37 years of service.Pettus is serving as acting commander and has not yet been officially nominated by the Pentagon and confirmed by the Senate to assume the command.
At the Dec. 12 event, Caine praised Holsey as the scion of a family rooted in service to the nation. His father was a Korean War veteran, six uncles served in the military, including three in Vietnam, a son—like him—is a navy helicopter pilot “who is, right now, out there flying BlackHawks off USS Abraham Lincoln in the Pacific, continuing the watch.”
The military’s highest-ranking officer said Holsey demonstrated bravery, repeatedly “landing a helicopter on the pitching deck of a ship,” but no more so than during two instructor tours training helicopter pilots and surviving “without your students killing you.”
Caine said on behalf of all of the active-duty Americans serving in the nation’s armed forces, including the sailors and Marines “in the fleet afloat right now” off Venezuela, it was an honor to leave cold, gray Washington to officiate his retirement ceremony “in this awesome Miami weather.”
Pettus said the three years he worked with Holsey at Southern Command before their November 2024 ascensions to commander and deputy commander was a privilege, calling the admiral’s “professionalism, commitment and capability unimaginable.”
Following in Holsey’s shadow will be daunting, he said, but he’s ready.
“The challenges we face are complex, but working together, and with our partners, we can and will make a lasting impact,” Pettus said. “I’m looking forward to the adventure. God bless you all, and God bless the United States of America.”
“Those we lead don’t follow words, they follow courage,” Holsey said, which makes Pettus the “right person to take the lead” of a command that will be the “whole-of-government … point-of-need to respond to shared threats in our neighborhood.”
He described himself as “a young boy from a small town in Georgia who dreamed of being aviator even though he had never been on airplane,” who came to realize dreams “God had a purpose for.”
Holsey told the joint force assembly—soldiers, airmen, sailors, Marines, federal agents, and military officers from dozens of nations—it “has been a tremendous honor to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you. You are the finest among us. Your dedicated efforts will shape this region for years to come. Your vision must be an enduring, secure, free, and prosperous hemisphere.
“I only ask for one thing: your personal best. You have everything you need to succeed—each other.”
And with that, Holsey was “piped ashore” for the last time—his watch over, a sailor no more.
“My mom wanted to be here,” he said, “but I told her, ‘This time, I’ll be home for Christmas.’”