James G. Stavridis

James George Stavridis, PhD (born 15 February 1955) is a retired United States Navy admiral who served as the 15th Commander, U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and NATO's 16th Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). Stavridis is the first Navy officer to have held these positions. Previously, he served as Commander, U.S. Southern Command from 19 October 2006, to 25 June 2009. He served as COMEUCOM and SACEUR from 30 June 2009 (USEUCOM) and 2 July 2009 (SACEUR) respectively, to 10 May 2013 and 13 May 2013, respectively. On 6 May 2013, ADM Stavridis was named as the 12th Dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, a position he took up on July 1, 2013. In addition, he became Chairman of the Board of the U.S. Naval Institute in July 2013.

Personal history
Stavridis was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, the son of Shirley (née Schaffer) and P. George Stavridis. He is married to Laura Hall, author of Navy Spouses Guide. His paternal grandparents were ethnic Greeks born and raised in what is now Turkey, who emigrated to the United States.

His 2008 book, Destroyer Captain: Lessons of a First Command, goes into more detail about his Greek refugee origins. "In the early 1920's," he wrote, "my grandfather, a short, stocky Greek schoolteacher named Dimitrios Stavridis, was expelled from Turkey as part of 'ethnic cleansing' (read pogrom) directed against Greeks living in the remains of the Ottoman Empire. He barely escaped with his life in a small boat crossing the Aegean Sea to Athens and thence to Ellis Island. His brother was not so lucky and was killed by the Turks as part of the violence directed at the Greek minority." A NATO exercise off the coast of modern Turkey was the "most amazing historical irony [he] could imagine," and prompted Stavridis to write of his grandfather: "His grandson, who speaks barely a few words of Greek, returns in command of a billion-dollar destroyer to the very city - Smyrna, now called İzmir - from which he sailed in a refugee craft all those years ago."

Career
Stavridis is a 1976 distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a native of South Florida, USA. He is a career surface warfare officer and served at sea in carriers, cruisers, and destroyers. After serving with distinction as Operations Officer on the newly commissioned USS Valley Forge (CG-50), Stavridis commanded destroyer USS Barry (DDG-52) from 1993 to 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 to 2004, Stavridis commanded Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, conducting combat operations in the Persian Gulf in support of both the successful Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Afterwards, Vice Admiral Stavridis served as senior military assistant to the United States Secretary of Defense. On October 19, 2006, he became the first navy commander of U.S. Southern Command in Miami, Florida. In July, 2009, he became Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).

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

Stavridis earned a PhD and Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy 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 has been appointed Dean of The Fletcher School, to begin his term July 1, 2013. He is also a 1992 distinguished graduate of the United States National War College. In 2003, He was honored with the Naval War College Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award. He frequently publishes his thoughts, opinions and analyses in myriad publications, including the Western Hemisphere policy publication Americas Quarterly and the United States Naval Institute's blog.

Awards and decorations
Surface Warfare Officer badge
 * United States Decorations


 * International decorations


 * Other Awards and Honors

Business Executives for National Security 2012 Eisenhower Award

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum 2011 Intrepid Freedom Award

AFCEA 2011 David Sarnoff Award

The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle 2011 Athenagoras Human Rights Award

Navy League of the United States 2011 Alfred Theyer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement

JINSA 2011 Henry M. Jackson Distinguished Service Award

Atlantic Council 2011 Distinguished Military Leadership Award

Chian Federation 33rd Annual Homeric Award

Israeli Distinguished Ally Award, May 2013

Published works
Selected books


 * Partnership for the Americas: Western Hemisphere Strategy and U.S. Southern Command,
 * NDU Press, November 2010


 * Command At Sea, Sixth Edition, Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute Press,
 * Co-authored with Rear Admiral Robert Girrier, USN, forthcoming 2010


 * Destroyer Captain: Lessons of a First Command, U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2007
 * Watch Officer’s Guide, Twelfth Edition, Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute Press,
 * Co-authored with Captain Robert Girrier, 2006


 * Division Officer’s Guide, Eleventh Edition, Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute Press,
 * Co-authored with Commander Robert Girrier, 2005

Selected articles, reviews and commentary

“Semi-Sumergibles: Una Amenaza Emergente en las Américas.” Air & Space Power Journal en Español, Volumen XX, No. 2, pp. 3–5, Segundo Trimestre 2008
 * Air & Space Power Journal en Español:

“NATO: A Bridge Across Time,” Freedom’s Challenge – Marking the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, December 2009
 * Atlantic Council:

“The Americas: We’re All in This Together,” Oct 2007 Vol. 1, Issue 2
 * Americas Quarterly:

“Let Us Dare,” Australian Defence Force Journal: Journal of the Australian Profession of Arms, Issue No. 181, 2010, pp. 72–77
 * Australian Defence Force Journal:

"NATO's Success in Libya: The Right Way to Run an Intervention," pp. 2–7, No. 2, Vol 91, March/April 2012 (with Ambassador Ivo H. Daalder)
 * Foreign Affairs:

"NATO Success in Lybia," OPED October 31, 2011 (with Ambassador Ivo H. Daalder) "Afghan Realities," Op-Ed. 25–26 September 2010, p. 9
 * International Herald Tribune:

"Sailing the Cyber Sea," pp. 61–67, Issue 65, 2nd quarter 2012 "An Intelligent Theater," pp. 104–108, Issue 56, 1st quarter 2010 “Whatever Happened to the “War on Drugs”? pp. 109–113, Issue 51, 4th Quarter 2008 “Strategic Communication and National Security,” pp. 4–7, Issue 46, 3rd Quarter 2007 “The Second Revolution,” Spring 2003 (Reprinted as one of top articles of previous decades) “The Second Revolution,” Summer 1997 (First Prize, RMA Essay Contest)
 * Joint Force Quarterly:

Ėditorial. “Un long chemin,” pp. 1–2, Nouvelle Serie Nº 51, Inter-session 2010.
 * Le Journal du Parlement: Politique – Economie – Culture:

“Strengthening the Bridge: Building Partnership Capacity,” pp. 2–6, January–February 2010 “Partnership for the Americas: The Human Rights Initiative,” pp. 2–8, May–June 2007 “Roosevelt, Churchill, and the Naval Wars,” Book Review, pp. 92, July 1986 “U Boats Wars,” Book Review, pp. 87–88, July 1985 “Submarine Boats: The Beginnings of Underwater Warfare,” Book Review, pp. 92–93, August 1984 “The Bowfin: The Story of One of America’s Fabled Fleet Submarines in the World War II,” Book Review, pp. 79–80, February 1984
 * Military review:

“Sea of Gray: The Around the World Cruise of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah,” Book Review, June 2006 “A Dishonorable Few,” Book Review, pp. 70, December 2005 “Cruise of the Sea Eagle,” Book Review, pp. 68–69, October 2005 “Patrick O’Brian: A Life Revealed,” Book Review, pp. 67, October 2000 “Damn the Torpedoes,” Book Review, pp. 50, October 1999
 * Naval history:

“United Nations of the Sea Treaty: Time for a Review?” pp. 78–88, Spring 1992 with Captain George Galdorisi, USN (Ret.)
 * Naval Law Review:

“Taming the Outlaw Sea,” Autumn 2010, Volume 63, Number 4, pp. 72–83 “Perspectivas sobre estrategia marítima,” Introducción: Una Estrategia Marítima en las Américas, Naval War College Press, pp. vii-xi, Winter 2009 “The Heart of an Officer,” Naval War College Review, Volume 62, pp. 26–41, Spring 2009 “Sailing to a New Port,” pp. 7–13, Summer 2007, Volume 60, Number 3 “El Dorado Canyon,” Book Review, pp. 136–138, Winter 2004 “From Annapolis to Scapa Flow,” Book Review, pp. 180–181, Autumn 2003 “Soldiers and Civilians,” Book Review, pp. 175–176, Summer 2002 “A World Explored,” Review Essay, pp. 95–97, Spring 2002 “The Tale of the Red Knight,” pp. 141–147, Autumn 2001 “Seapower: Theory and Practice,” Book Review, pp. 134–136, Winter 1997 “The Nightingale’s Song,” Book Review, pp. 136–137, Spring 1996 “The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery,” Book Review, pp. 113, September–October 1985 “Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships,” Book Review, pp. 122–123, May–June 1985 “Vietnam: A History,” Book Review, pp. 138–139, January–February 1985 “The Future of Conflict in the 1980s,” Book Review, pp. 117–118, July–August 1984 “Soviet Policy and Practice toward Third World Conflicts,” Book Review, pp. 104–105, May–June 1984 “The American Style of Foreign Policy,” Book Review,” pp. 121-123, November–December 1983 “Marine Technology Transfer and the Law of the Sea,” pp. 38–50, July–August 1983
 * Naval War College Review:

“NATO Taking a Fix – Charting a Course,” Vol. 154, No. 6, pp. 44–47, December 2009
 * RUSI Journal:

“Time,” p. 38, An Ocean Away, June 2010 “Semi-submersibles: An Emerging Threat in the Americas,” p. 36, An Ocean Away, May 2008 “Humanitarian Operations: Evolving Missions and New Approaches,” pp. 25–27, January–February 2008
 * Shipmate:

“The Long Road,” Volume 9 Number 1, pp. 23–29, July 2010
 * Turkish Policy Quarterly: 

"Rejoinder to “Punch Them in the Nose…and Then Leave” by CDR John Kuehn," comment and discussion, pp. 8, September 2012" "Another View," pp. 7, June 2011 "The Death of NATO: A Rebuttal," pp. 6, January 2011 “Teaching the Ropes,” pp. 30–34, May 2010 "Sailing Across the Bridge," pp. 16–20, 1 October 2009 "One Minute to Midnight," book review, pp. 27–73, March 2009,  “Read, Think, Write, and Publish,” pp. 16–19, August 2008 “The Far Reaches,” pp. 81–82, September 2007 “Sailing in Southern Waters: A New Wind,” pp. 16–21, 1 May 2007 “Six Frigates,” Book Review, pp. 83–84, December 2006 “Sea of Thunder,” Book Review, pp. 81–82, November 2006 “Deconstructing War,” pp. 42–45, December 2005 “From Sword to Shield,” pp. 48–51, August 2004 “Adapting Aviation Tactical Training for the Surface Warfare Community,” pp. 36–37, January 2003 “The Tragedy of Great Power Politics,” Book Review, pp. 91–92, July 2002 “Making Room for Risk: Managing Disruptive Techniques,” September 2001 “A Soldier’s Duty,” Book Review, pp. 82–83, August 2001 “Requiem for a Sailor’s Writer,” pp. 130–131, May 2000 “The Got Game,” pp. 51–54, June 1999 “Beyond the Law of the Sea,” Book Review, pp. 116–117, March 1999 “A Perfect Form One,” pp. 45–47, October 1995 (USNI Prize Winner) “Handling the Arleigh Burkes,” pp. 66–69, October 1994 “Beyond Joint: The Interagency Action,” pp. 94–99, May 1993 “To Begin Again,” pp. 35–39, July 1993 “A Measure of Success,” pp. 80–81, February 1992 “Aegis in the Third World,” pp. 61–64, September 1991 “New Era Tactic,” pp. 76–78, July 1991 “Retreat from Doomsday,” Book Review, pp. 105–106, July 1989 “Antisubmarine Warfare Tactics,” pp. 23–25, April 1989 “Surface Navy Performance,” pp. 28–29, February 1988 “Creating ASW Killing Zones,” pp. 38–42, October 1987 “An Alliance for the Pacific,” pp. 77–80, July 1987 “Supercarrier,” Book Review, pp. 105–106, February 1987 “Handling a Ticonderoga,” pp. 107–110, January 1987 “The Global Maritime Coalition,” pp. 58–64, April 1985 “Resources Wars,” pp. 72–77, January 1985 (USNI Prize Winner) “Naval Strategy and National Ocean Policy,” pp. 42–47, July 1984 “Politics Awareness Training in the Navy,” pp. 23–24, March 1984 “War, Peace, and Leadership,” pp. 78–80, August 1983 (USNI Prize Winner) “Closing the Gaps in Naval Leadership,” pp. 76–78, July 1982 (USNI Prize Winner) “Carrier Commander/On Leading Snipes,” pp. 74–76, January 1981 “Handling a Spruance Class Destroyer,” pp. 125–126, October 1979
 * U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings:

“Region Has Strong Partners,” OPED, June 16, 2009 “Productive Partnerships Make Region Stronger,” OPED, Dec 2, 2008 “What I’ve Learned,” OPED, May 24, 2008 “Ready to help Caribbean neighbors,” OPED with Thomas Shannon, April 3, 2008 “Why We Love Miami,” OPED, September 26, 2007 “Build a True Partnership,” OPED, March 8, 2007
 * Miami Herald:

"Combat and Compassion," with Dr. Reuben Brigety, pp. 50–60, Spring, 2012
 * USAID Frontiers in Development:

Washington Post "The Dark Side of Globalization," May 2, 2013, OPED page

Foreign Policy "The New Triad: Time to Found a Cyber Force," on-line, 21 June 2013

On Patrol "NATO 3.0 and an Evolving EUCOM," Summer 2013, pp. 57–59