WASHINGTON and SANTIAGO, Chile — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday that his senior military assistant, Navy Vice Adm. Craig Faller, will be nominated to serve as the next head of U.S. Southern Command.
Mattis
made the statement to members of a Chilean government delegation before
attending a signing ceremony for an agreement on cyber cooperation with Chilean
Defense Minister Alberto Espina.
The nomination
was expected to be publicly announced later Thursday in Washington, and still
requires confirmation by the Senate. If confirmed, Faller would become a
four-star admiral, a rapid rise for someone who had only two-stars in January
of last year.
Faller
studied engineering at the Naval Academy and worked in nuclear specialties
early in his career. Later, as a commanding officer, he deployed repeatedly the
Middle East, leading combat forces supporting U.S. military operations in the
Persian Gulf, and in Iraq and Afghanistan. Before taking the job with Mattis,
he worked as the Navy’s point man for legislative affairs
Mattis
selected Faller as his military assistant just days after being sworn in as
secretary, continuing an existing relationship between the two. While assigned
to Central Command, Faller was investigated by the Navy Inspector General over
allegations he breached military ethics rules when, as a carrier strike group
commander in 2011, he was offered and accepted a luxury hotel suite in Malaysia.
The Navy
determined Faller’s missteps were mitigated because he accepted the room
upgrade to accommodate several members of his staff. It was Mattis, as Faller’s
boss when the investigation was complete, who elected to forego disciplining
the admiral.
***Aaron
Mehta and Robert Burns, The Associated Press