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U.S. Deepens Caribbean Military Buildup With Regional Support as Civilian Deaths Mount

Regional permissions for airfields, refueling, radar underpin the U.S. operation.

Overview

  • Dominican Republic authorized limited, time-bound use of San Isidro air base and Las Américas airport for refueling and logistics after a visit by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
  • Trinidad and Tobago hosts U.S. Marines, facilitates airport works and a new radar installation, and reports joint exercises alongside the USS Gravely.
  • Grenada disclosed a U.S. request to place a radar at its airport as Washington broadens forward sensing and support across the island chain.
  • The deployment is the largest in the region in decades, with at least 12 warships, two carriers (USS Gerald R. Ford and Iwo Jima), a nuclear submarine, and an estimated force exceeding 15,000 personnel.
  • Operations continue from Puerto Rico with troop landings in Ponce, movements to Campamento Santiago, reactivation of Roosevelt Roads, an earlier F-35 order, and 22 reported lethal strikes on civilian boats leaving about 87 people dead that experts call unlawful.