The Leadership Lectures: Admiral Craig Faller (Retired)

About the Lecture

We are…leaders. Each person possesses the ability to be a leader. Admiral Craig Faller, United States Navy (Retired), will share stories from his many years of service to illustrate that we are all leaders. We define our own leadership style by observing, learning, and doing things - by being involved. For Admiral Faller he has defined leadership as love. The currency of his love leadership is trust. A relentless focus on character development, improving personal competence, and clear communication are some of the essential ingredients of building trust. The ultimate purpose of defining leadership and building trust is to make a difference one person at a time.

About Admiral Faller

Craig Faller is a retired four-star Admiral with decades of global, national security leadership experience. From 2018 to 2021 he Commanded United States Southern Command in Miami, Florida. In this role, he enhanced Western Hemisphere security by building strong, trusted partnerships between the United States military and Latin American and Caribbean security forces. As the Department of the Navy’s Chief of Legislative Affairs, he represented the Secretary of the Navy, and the Chief of Naval Operations on the Hill. He currently serves as a Senior Fellow at Florida International University, Trustee at the Center for Naval Analysis, Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council, Senior Fellow at the National Defense University, and on the Advisory Board of the Penn State Applied Research Laboratory (ARL).

• Full bio

  Craig Faller is a retired four-star Admiral with decades of global, national security leadership experience.

  From 2018 to 2021 he Commanded United States Southern Command in Miami, Florida. In this role, he enhanced Western Hemisphere security by building strong, trusted partnerships between the United States military and Latin American and Caribbean security forces.

  Previously, Faller served as the top-most military assistant to the Secretary of Defense, James N. Mattis. He assisted the defense secretary on all matters from military operations, national security strategy development, management of the department’s $700 + billion budget and global engagement with world leaders.    

  As the Department of the Navy’s Chief of Legislative Affairs, he represented the Secretary of the Navy, and the Chief of Naval Operations on the Hill.

  Faller has other experience leading large teams to include command of Navy Recruiting Command. the Director of Operations for United States Central Command, command of an aircraft carrier strike group and two warships the USS Stethem (DDG-63), and USS Shiloh (CG-63).

  He is a 1983 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering and a 1990 distinguished graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School with a Master’s in National Security Affairs (Strategic Planning).

  He currently serves as a Senior Fellow at Florida International University, Trustee at the Center for Naval Analysis, Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council, Senior Fellow at the National Defense University, and on the Advisory Board of the Penn State Applied Research Laboratory (ARL).