Southern Comfort

U.S. Southern Command is scheduled for its change of leadership later on this month, according to a SOUTHCOM statement issued this morning:

MIAMI - U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Douglas Fraser is scheduled to assume duties as commander, U.S. Southern Command from Navy Adm. James Stavridis during a formal change-of-command ceremony at the command's headquarters June 25.

Stavridis, who began his tenure as commander of SOUTHCOM on Oct. 19, 2006, was confirmed June 10 by the U.S. Senate to serve as Commander, U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany, and Supreme Allied Commander of Europe for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, headquartered near Mons, Belgium.

Fraser's presidential nomination for appointment to the grade of general and assignment as SOUTHCOM commander was also approved by the U.S. Senate June 10. The general is scheduled to receive his fourth star prior to the June 25 change-of-command ceremony.

Fraser comes to SOUTHCOM from U.S. Pacific Command, headquartered in Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, where he served as the geographic unified command's deputy commander.

Fraser has also served as commander of Alaskan Command, a component command of U.S. Pacific Command; 11th Air Force, Pacific Air Forces; and Alaskan North American Defense Region, headquartered at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.

A 1975 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and 1992 graduate of the National War College, Fraser earned a master's degree in political science from Auburn University in 1987.

His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, and Meritorious Service Medal.

Fraser is the first Air Force general to head SOUTHCOM, a post to date led only by Army, Marine Corps and Navy officers.

When Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the nomination in March, he said Fraser's appointment as well as Stavridis' to head EUCOM are "but one more indication of how joint our military leadership has become and how much America's global security arrangements have evolved since the end of the Cold War."