US aircraft carrier enters the Caribbean

November 16, 2025, 9:41 AM MST

The USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group entered the Caribbean Sea Sunday, according to a U.S. Navy press release. The carrier and the three destroyers accompanying it have been in the western Atlantic Ocean since Nov. 11 while they made their way in a southwest direction towards the Caribbean. The ships entered the Caribbean through the Arenada Passage, the body of water separating the Virgin Islands from Anguilla.

The four ships in the strike group join the seven others that have been operating in the Caribbean for the last couple of months in what is known as Operation Southern Spear, targeting Latin American drug cartels, according to the Trump administration.

The carrier has more than 60 aircraft aboard, most of them fighter aircraft, raising the question of how they may be employed in the operations against the drug cartels, which has raised concerns that Venezuelan land targets might be next.

There are now 15,000 U.S. military forces operating in the Caribbean, the largest such presence in decades.

The government of Trinidad and Tobago announced on Friday that beginning Sunday, some of the 2,200 Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) aboard three amphibious ships would begin joint training on the islands on Sunday.

At its closest point, Trinidad and Tobago are just 30 miles from the coast of Venezuela.

Some of the MEU’s helicopters will be involved in the training that will take place during evening and nighttime hours in rural and urban areas.