Center for a New American Security

Affiliation: Commander of the United States Southern Command

Admiral James Stavridis assumed command of the United States Southern Command on October 19, 2006. Adm. Stavridis is a 1976 distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a native of South Florida.

A Surface Warfare Officer, Adm. Stavridis commanded the Destroyer USS Barry (DDG-52) from 1993-1995, completing deployments to Haiti, Bosnia, and the Persian Gulf. Barry won the Battenberg Cup as the top ship in the Atlantic Fleet under his command.

In 1998, he commanded Destroyer Squadron 21 and deployed to the Persian Gulf, winning the Navy League's John Paul Jones Award for Inspirational Leadership.

From 2002-2004, Adm. Stavridis commanded Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, conducting combat operations in the Persian Gulf in support of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Ashore, Adm. Stavridis has served as a strategic and long-range planner on the staffs of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. At the start of the Global War on Terror, he was selected as the director of the Navy Operations Group, Deep Blue. He has also served as the executive assistant to the Secretary of the Navy and the senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense.