AFP: The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, and its strike group on Tuesday entered the US Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility, as tensions with Venezuela ramp up.
According to a statement from the US Navy, deployment follows a directive from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to support President Donald Trump’s initiative to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and combat narco-terrorism threatening US and regional security.
“The enhanced US force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster US capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” said chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
“These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations.”
The strike group, comprising more than 4,000 sailors and nine tactical air squadrons, will operate alongside existing US forces in the region, including the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and its Marine Expeditionary Unit, under a Joint Task Force created to target criminal networks across the Caribbean and Latin America.
“Through unwavering commitment and the precise use of our forces, we stand ready to combat the transnational threats that seek to destabilize our region,” said Adm. Alvin Holsey, Commander, SOUTHCOM.
Alongside Gerald R. Ford, the carrier strike group brings additional “capable, lethal, and adaptable warfighting” assets, including the nine embarked squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Eight, Destroyer Squadron Two’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) and USS Mahan (DDG 72), and the integrated air and missile defense command ship USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81), according to the statement.
The SOUTHCOM oversees military operations across 31 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region the US considers vital for maintaining hemispheric stability and countering illicit trafficking networks.
