SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The head of U.S. Southern Command, who oversees all military activity in the Caribbean and South America, is stepping down after just a year in the post. His retirement was announced by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth this week on social media. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports.
QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: Secretary Hegseth announced that Admiral Alvin Holsey would retire after 37 years in the military and praised what he called the admiral's unwavering commitment to mission, people and nation. U.S. Southern Command later posted a message from Admiral Holsey thanking his troops. It's highly unusual for an officer not to finish the full three years of a command like this, and even stranger in the middle of a military buildup, which has seen thousands of U.S. troops move into position off the Venezuelan coast. Admiral Holsey is Black. The Trump administration has let go several senior military leaders who are non-white or female, implying that they'd been promoted for that reason. But there's another theory this time, says retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery.
MARK MONTGOMERY: I'd probably lean more towards we're conducting extremely unusual operations in Southern Command right now that a reasonable person could disagree with the legality of.
LAWRENCE: At least six times recently, the U.S. military has made lethal strikes on small civilian vessels. The White House says they carry drugs. Critics say the strikes are illegal under both U.S. and international law and that they amount to execution without trial. Montgomery says the military is ill-suited to that job.
MONTGOMERY: As much as I absolutely want to prevent all drugs coming into the country, this kind of law enforcement action against narcotic deliveries is best handled by law enforcement that does appropriate due process.
LAWRENCE: A U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly has confirmed with NPR that Admiral Holsey recently met with Hegseth at the Pentagon to express his concerns and then stepped down. After that news broke, President Trump confirmed the most recent strike on what he described as a drug-carrying submarine. Trump said without evidence that this was, quote, "not a group of innocent people." A second U.S. official who is not permitted to speak publicly said U.S. troops seized two survivors after that strike, and they're being brought elsewhere for possible legal proceedings.
Quil Lawrence, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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