MIAMI – U.S. Navy Adm. Craig S. Faller is scheduled to assume duties as commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) from U.S. Navy Adm. Kurt W. Tidd during a change-of-command ceremony 1 p.m. Nov. 26 at the command’s headquarters.
Tidd will retire after more than four decades of distinguished military service as a naval officer, including various command and operational assignments aboard U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, destroyers, and frigates, including a deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom while commanding Carrier Strike Group 8. He assumed command of SOUTHCOM Jan. 14, 2016, after serving as assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
During Tidd’s tenure as SOUTHCOM commander, the command supported U.S. foreign disaster assistance missions in the Caribbean to aid victims of hurricanes Matthew, Irma and Maria; multinational cooperation to counter transnational threat networks undermining Western Hemisphere security; the Argentine-led international search for the missing submarine ARA San Juan; and the U.S. government’s assistance to Colombia during that country’s transition to peace.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Faller’s presidential nomination to command SOUTHCOM Oct. 11.
Faller was promoted to Admiral today and is currently serving in the Pentagon as the principal military advisor and assistant to U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
He is a 1983 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a native of Fryburg, Pa. He has served in various roles aboard carriers, cruisers and destroyers, and he was the commanding officer of the USS Shiloh (CG 67) in 2005, when the guided-missile cruiser supported U.S. disaster relief operations off the coast of Indonesia in the aftermath of a devastating Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
Faller also served tours of duty at U.S. Pacific Command (now U.S. Indo-Pacific Command), U.S. Central Command and as commander of Navy Recruiting Command.
He is a 1990 graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School, where he earned a master’s degree in national security affairs (strategic planning).
SOUTHCOM is one of the nation’s six geographically-focused unified commands with responsibility for U.S. defense and security cooperation with partner nations in the Caribbean, Central America and South America, as well as U.S. military operations in the region.
SOUTHCOM’s headquarters is located at 9301 NW 33rd St., Doral, Fla., 33172. For more information about the command visit www.southcom.mil.
Note to interested journalists and news desks: The ceremony time will be announced via a separate media advisory prior to Nov. 26. For directions to SOUTHCOM, to RSVP for the event, or for additional information about the ceremony, contact the Public Affairs Office at 305-437-1213.