Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has seen yet another senior military commander quit their job early on his watch, amid claims of tensions between the pair.
Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, the head of U.S. Southern Command, who has been leading the U.S. forces in Latin America and overseeing Donald Trump’s crackdown on “narco-terrorists,” will leave his job in December, two years ahead of schedule. He started the job last November, in what is usually a three-year term.
Holsey did not give a reason for his sudden departure after 37 years in the U.S. Navy, which comes as Trump authorized covert operations by the CIA against Venezuela. After serving as deputy commander of the United States Southern Command from 2023, Holsey took command in November 2024.
In a social media statement, Holsey said he would retire from the U.S. Navy on Dec. 12.
“Serving as your commander and deputy for the past 34 months has been a tremendous honor,” Holsey wrote.
Admiral Alvin Holsey addresses the Central American Security Conference, organized by Panama and the U.S. Southern Command, in Panama City on April 9, 2025. Franco Brana/AFP via Getty Images
“The SOUTHCOM team has made lasting contributions to the defense of our nation and will continue to do so,” he wrote, signing off, “Keep Charging!!!”
A Reuters report says that Holsey had questions over whether he was about to be fired. According to the report, a source claims tensions had arisen between Holsey and Hegseth over operations in the Caribbean.
One current and one former U.S. official told The New York Times that Holsey had aired his concerns about the Pentagon’s escalating attacks on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea.
Meanwhile, a report in The Washington Post claimed Hegseth had grown “disenchanted” with Holsey and wanted him to step aside. The issue had flared after the Trump administration started to order fatal attacks on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela.
However, a Pentagon source told the Daily Beast, “Admiral Holsey didn’t resign in protest and anyone writing that has no clue what they’re talking about.”
The Department of Defense, which Hegseth has rebranded “The Department of War,” forwarded a statement from Hegseth to the Daily Beast, which did not add any further reasons for Holsey’s premature departure.
Panama Canal Administrator Dr. Ricaurte Vásquez Morales welcomes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Admiral Alvin Holsey to the Panama Canal on April 8, 2025, in Panama City, Panama. Anadolu via Getty Images
“On behalf of the Department of War, we extend our deepest gratitude to Admiral Alvin Holsey for his more than 37 years of distinguished service to our nation as he plans to retire at year’s end,” Hegseth wrote on X.
“His tenure as Military Deputy Commander and now Commander of United States Southern Command reflects a legacy of operational excellence and strategic vision. The Department thanks Admiral Holsey for his decades of service to our country, and we wish him and his family continued success and fulfillment in the years ahead.”
Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the surprise exit is telling, given the possible showdown between the U.S. and Venezuela, and Trump’s threats against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“Admiral Holsey’s resignation only deepens my concern that this administration is ignoring the hard-earned lessons of previous U.S. military campaigns and the advice of our most experienced warfighters,” Reed said in a statement to The Guardian.
The Daily Beast has contacted Reed’s office for comment.
Admiral Alvin Holsey receives the Order of Merit ‘Gral. Div. Bernardino Caballero’ in the rank of Grand Cross, a highly prestigious Paraguayan award, at the Government Palace in Asuncion, Paraguay, on Aug. 23, 2025. DANIEL DUARTE/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump announced on Wednesday that he had signed off on the CIA conducting covert operations in Venezuela. The U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean includes 6,500 troops and F-35 fighter jets, missile destroyers, and a nuclear submarine.
“I authorized for two reasons, really,” Trump said. “No. 1, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America,” he said. “And the other thing, the drugs, we have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea.”
At least 27 people have been killed by U.S. military strikes against suspected drug boats.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday that “six male narcoterrorists” had been killed in a “kinetic” strike off the coast of Venezuela.
Hegseth’s reporting restrictions have been labeled an attack on press freedom “without precedent.” Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Since Hegseth’s arrival, top naval officer Lisa Franchetti, who was the first female officer to rise to the Navy’s top job of chief of naval operations, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, C.Q. Brown, have both been fired.
Air Force Chief of Staff General David Allvin also announced he will retire later this year, after just two years of a four-year term, without giving a reason.
Trump also fired former Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Lee Fagan, and General Timothy Haugh, the director of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, after far-right activist Laura Loomer accused him of disloyalty.
The latest departure comes as dozens of journalists walked out of the Pentagon in protest at Hegseth’s new regulations on media access.
Last month, Hegseth declared that journalists must only publish information that the Pentagon has expressly approved.