Overview
- The strike group transited the Anegada Passage on Nov. 16 to join Operation Southern Spear under SOUTHCOM.
- Ford deploys with Carrier Air Wing Eight and destroyers USS Bainbridge, USS Mahan, and USS Winston S. Churchill, carrying more than 4,000 sailors.
- U.S. forces in the region now include the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and additional surface combatants, with Stars and Stripes calling it the largest Caribbean presence in decades.
- Local reports say the Pentagon is refurbishing Puerto Rico’s former Roosevelt Roads base and an Air Force F-35A squadron is operating from the territory.
- U.S. forces have conducted 20 strikes on suspected narcotics boats that killed 80, drawing bipartisan congressional scrutiny, while officials fault Venezuela’s Maduro regime and the White House discussed military options as President Trump signaled he has decided on next steps.