Overview
- USS Gerald R. Ford transited the Strait of Gibraltar on Nov. 4 with Carrier Air Wing 8 and some escorts, bound for U.S. Southern Command.
- The strike group will join the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, three destroyers, cruiser Lake Erie, LCS Wichita, a submarine, logistics ships, and a forward-deployed F-35 squadron operating from Puerto Rico.
- SOUTHCOM records indicate this is the first operational aircraft carrier deployment to the Caribbean in more than three decades.
- U.S. forces have conducted 13 targeted strikes on suspected narco-boats since Sept. 1 with 64 reported deaths, drawing bipartisan scrutiny over authorities and mission scope.
- The redeployment concentrates U.S. naval power in Latin America, leaving Europe and the Middle East without a carrier presence and placing nearly 20% of deployed Navy warships in the region, according to Stars and Stripes.