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James G. Stavridis
Admiral James G. Stavridis
Allegiance	U.S. Navy
Years of service	1976-present
Rank	Admiral
Commands	United States Southern Command
Awards	Legion of Merit (5)

Admiral James G. Stavridis is the current commander of U.S. Southern Command. He is a 1976 distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a native of south Florida.

A Surface Warfare Officer, he has served at sea in carriers, cruisers, and destroyers.

Stavridis commanded destroyer USS Barry (DDG-52) from 1993-1995, completing deployments to Haiti, Bosnia, and the Persian Gulf. Barry won the Battenberg Cup as the top ship in the Atlantic Fleet under his command.

In 1998, he commanded Destroyer Squadron 21 and deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1998, winning the Navy League’s John Paul Jones Award for Inspirational Leadership.

From 2002-2004, Stavridis commanded Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, conducting combat operations in the Persian Gulf in support of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Afterwards, VADM Savridis served as senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense. In October 19, 2006 he became the first Navy Commanding Officer of the U.S. Southern Command in Miami, FL.

Ashore, he served as a strategic and long range planner on the staffs of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. At the start of the "Global War on Terror," he was selected as the Director of the Navy Operations Group, Deep Blue. He has also served as the executive assistant to the Secretary of the Navy and the senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense.

Stavridis earned a PhD and MALD from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in International Relations in 1984, where he won the Gullion Prize as outstanding student. He is also a 1992 distinguished graduate of the National War College.

He holds various decorations and awards, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal and five awards of the Legion of Merit.

Stavridis is married to Laura Hall, author of Navy Spouses Guide, and has two daughters, Christina and Julia.

This article incorporates text from http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=270, a public domain work of the United States Government.