Admiral Craig Faller
Commander, U.S. Southern Command
Craig Stephen Faller was born in 1961 in Pennsylvania. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering. He earned his master’s in national security affairs and strategic planning from the Naval Postgraduate School.
At sea, he served as reactor electrical division officer, electrical officer, and reactor training assistant aboard the USS South Carolina, working his way through several other assignments aboard the USS Peterson, USS Enterprise, and USS John Hancock, where he was executive officer. He commanded the USS Stethem, where they participated in maritime interception operations in support of United Nations sanctions against Iraq. In other commands, he assisted victims of the tsunami off Indonesia, and deployed to the Middle East in support of Operations New Dawn in Iraq and Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Shore duties included serving as a legislative fellow on the staff of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and serving as head of Surface Nuclear Officer Programs and Placement at Navy Personnel Command. He was executive assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations. He was the principal military adviser and assistant to the secretary of defense. In November 2018, Faller became Commanding General of the United States Southern Command.
In the News…
Sustained disruption of drug traffickers in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific has already saved 600 American lives, the head of the U.S. Southern Command Admiral Craig Faller said in an interview. He described the progress made since President Trump announced an enhanced counter narcotics effort on April 1.
”It’s time to get after putting relentless pressure on the enemy,” Faller said. “I look at it as this vicious circle of threats.” He described how transnational criminal organizations and narco-terrorists feed a cycle of corruption that threatens democracies and harms security across the region.
The estimate for American lives saved takes into account the drugs taken off U.S. streets and an estimate of 70,000 Americans who die each year from illegal drug-related overdoses.
