Home Appointments Commander
Commander
US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM)
| Appointee | Laura Richardson |
|---|---|
| Role | Commander |
| Organisation | US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) |
| Domain | Military |
| Start | 29 October 2021 |
| End | 1 August 2024 |
| Notes | First woman to command USSOUTHCOM |
Institutional context
United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is one of eleven unified combatant commands under the Department of Defense, with area of responsibility covering Central and South America and the Caribbean. The Commander of SOUTHCOM is a four-star general or admiral. From the command's establishment in 1963 through 2021, every Commander was male.
Career path
Richardson is a graduate of Metropolitan State College of Denver and earned a master's degree in administration from Central Michigan University. She is an Army aviator with combat tours in Operation Iraqi Freedom and command experience including the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade in Germany and the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade. She served as Deputy Commanding General of US Army Forces Command from 2019 to 2021, becoming the first woman to lead the command in an acting capacity in 2019.
Appointment
She was nominated to lead SOUTHCOM in March 2021 and confirmed by the Senate. She assumed command on 29 October 2021, succeeding Admiral Craig Faller. She turned over command on 8 November 2024 to Admiral Alvin Holsey.
Tenure
Three years and ten days. Tenure included expanded engagement with hemispheric counter-narcotics partners, security cooperation around Venezuela and Haiti, and SOUTHCOM's response to natural-disaster events across the area of responsibility.
Cluster context
Richardson's 2021 appointment is part of the principal cluster's military-domain sub-pattern. The simultaneous concentration of female four-star commanders at unified combatant commands and combat-support commands during the 2020–2022 window — Van Ovost at TRANSCOM, Richardson at SOUTHCOM, Fagan at the Coast Guard — is one of the dataset's tightest within-domain clusters.