You are listening to the War on the Rocks podcast on Strategy, Defense, and Foreign Affairs.

My name is Ryan Evans. I'm the founder of Warren the Rocks.

And in this episode, I talked with Marine General Frank Donovan, the commander of U.S. Southern

Command.

This is the third time on the show when we spoke about a new autonomous warfare command that

he started under Southern Command.

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And in the middle of this episode i have a short interview with

noda co-founder another marine named phil dwang thanks for coming back on the show we've had you

in three different jobs now i think that's actually a record for war on the rock's guests

ryan it's great seeing you and i was thinking the same thing this morning on my run that I get to engage you again. And you've been on this journey of discovery with me, you know, really from the Second Marine Division and what we're doing, supportive Ukraine ops and then really our work with Defense Autonomous Warfare Group and now. So it's great to be back with you today. How did you find out that you were being selected to be the commander of Southern Command?

The Commandant, the Marine Corps called me one day and said, hey, we're considering competing you for this. My wife and I were well on the path to retiring and this would be retired in the summer of 2026, which had been, which had been great. It had been 38 years in the Corps, and we were very happy to step aside. But when we heard about this and we heard about we had the opportunity to serve for a couple more years, we're very excited. I know you know, Ryan, both my children are Marines. And so to serve for a couple more years while they're on active duty as an honor, but just really to be part of the Joint Force, part of the Marine Corps for a couple more years, is beyond an honor.

And especially stepping in when the Western Hemisphere in particular has been laid out in national offense strategy, national security strategy is such a priority as we captured and removed Maduro from power, have this new relationship with the government in Venezuela, so much is happening.

It's a lot to take on.

How do you immerse yourself in this region?

Things are moving quickly already as soon as you take command.

How did you take all that on?

Ron, I'll tell you, the last time I'd actually spent significant time in U.S. Southern Command

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