A senior U.S. Navy officer who oversaw military operations in the Caribbean and Latin America was reportedly pushed out of his command after expressing unease about the legality of a controversial boat-strike campaign launched under the Trump administration, new reporting shows.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Admiral Alvin Holsey’s early departure from his post as head of U.S. Southern Command came at the request of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after months of growing tensions between the two officials. Holsey’s exit occurred less than a year into what is normally a three-year assignment.
Holsey did not publicly detail his reasons for stepping down when he announced his retirement, leaving observers puzzled at the time. The shift came as lawmakers had begun questioning the Trump administration’s secretive escalation of the boat-strike operation, including a CIA-backed authorization for lethal attacks in Caribbean waters.
View this post on Instagram
Officials and former Pentagon personnel told the Journal that the relationship between Hegseth and Holsey had deteriorated over disagreements about the campaign and other operational pressures. Hegseth had urged Holsey to execute orders quickly and without hesitation, according to those sources.
The discord reportedly intensified when Holsey raised concerns about the “murky legal authority” for the strikes on vessels alleged to be drug traffickers — a mission that legal experts have widely criticized as potentially unlawful under both domestic and international law.
Experts have said that targeting boat crews — especially in operations that appear to include follow-up attacks after initial strikes — could amount to violations of the laws of armed conflict. Some legal scholars have characterized parts of the campaign as tantamount to murder or war crimes because those killed may not have posed an imminent threat.
While Hegseth and the Pentagon have declined to publicly link Holsey’s departure to disagreements over the operation, the change in leadership came at a moment of significant scrutiny of U.S. military strategy in the region, with lawmakers from both parties describing the situation as highly unusual.
Holsey’s retirement, set for Dec. 12, 2025, marks a striking leadership change amid ongoing debates about U.S. use of military force in the Caribbean and concerns over adherence to legal norms governing armed operations.
