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Air Force general takes helm at SouthCom

MIAMI — An Air Force general took the helm Thursday of U.S. military operations in Latin American and the Caribbean.

Gen. Douglas Fraser replaces Adm. James Stavridis at Southern Command and said he would build on his predecessor’s efforts to develop cooperative relationships with militaries throughout the region. Fraser is the first Air Force officer to lead SouthCom.

“The transnational and transregional challenges we face to security, stability and prosperity in the Americas can only be met through strong, enduring partnerships,” he said.

Stavridis, who was the first admiral to lead SouthCom, is the new NATO commander in Europe. Reflecting on his three years at SouthCom, he said the medical missions of the hospital ship USNS Comfort were among the keys to combating instability.

“That is the future of security for the United States in this region,” Stavridis said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised Stavridis at the change-of-command ceremony at SouthCom’s headquarters for his efforts to foster regional partnerships, his humanitarian missions after natural disasters and his push to change the culture at SouthCom.

“Jim did all this while dealing with the thorny legal and political issues associated with Guantanamo,” Gates said.

President Barack Obama has ordered the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be closed by early next year. Shutting down Guantanamo now falls to Fraser, but he had no details about that closure in a meeting with reporters Tuesday.

“The president has given us an executive order with a time frame on that, and we will execute that as directed,” he said.

As he prepared to assume command, Fraser identified his main security concerns as illicit trafficking, narcoterrorism and natural disasters.

He praised the U.N. security force in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, as an example of “partner militaries,” and said SouthCom would continue supporting humanitarian and international security efforts in the beleaguered Caribbean country.

Fraser also said Venezuela’s hostile relations with the U.S. were a concern, but SouthCom would continue to invite Venezuela to participate in interagency training exercises.

“I’m concerned with the military buildup in Venezuela because I don’t understand the threat that they see,” he said. “I don’t see a conventional military threat in the region, so I’m uncertain of why they see a need to build their military to the point that they are pursuing.”

Fraser said he would follow Stavridis’ example in opening communications about SouthCom, including a blog Stavridis posted on its Web site.

“It is part of the way we interact socially across nations now,” Fraser said.

Fraser, who was promoted to four-star rank this week, had been deputy commander of U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii since April 2008. He previously led the Alaskan Command, which oversees all military units in Alaska. His other assignments have included commanding a fighter squadron in the Pacific and staff positions at Air Force headquarters and in the office of the secretary of defense.

He is a 1975 Air Force Academy graduate and a command pilot with more than 2,700 flying hours, primarily in F-15s and F-16s.

Though much of Fraser’s time in the Air Force has been spent in the U.S., Europe and the Pacific, he considers his SouthCom posting a kind of homecoming. His parents spent six years in Colombia, where he went to high school.

His interest in Latin America never faded, he said, but there is one area where he needs to catch up.

Responding to a reporter’s question Thursday, Fraser haltingly said in high school Spanish, “I have to practice.”