Parnell added that the deployment “will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs.” A Pentagon spokesperson later said there was “nothing further to add” beyond Parnell’s statement.
As of Friday, the Ford was in port in Split, Croatia, where it had arrived two days earlier. It is expected to take at least a week for the carrier to reach the Caribbean region, according to USNI News.
The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group left Naval Station Norfolk in June and includes the destroyers USS Winston S. Churchill, USS Bainbridge, USS Mahan, USS Mitscher, and USS Forrest Sherman, along with Carrier Air Wing 8. It remains unclear which of these destroyers will accompany Ford to the USSOUTHCOM area.
On Monday, USS Forrest Sherman was in the Red Sea, while USS Mitscher was in the Arabian Sea operating separately from the strike group. These locations suggest not all ships in the group are currently positioned to redeploy alongside the Ford.
The deployment follows a broader campaign by the Trump administration targeting transnational criminal organisations, which it claims pose a direct threat to U.S. security. Since September, U.S. forces have reportedly struck ten alleged narcotics smuggling vessels, killing at least 43 people in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
The administration has cited U.S. Title 10 military self-defence provisions to justify the strikes but has offered limited legal explanation. Lawmakers from both parties have questioned the legality of these operations.
According to The New York Times, the administration informed Congress that drug traffickers are considered “unlawful combatants,” describing cartel actions as an “armed attack against the United States.” The Ford group will join several other Navy assets already in the region, including destroyers, a cruiser, a submarine, and multiple amphibious warships with a Marine expeditionary unit.
Air Force assets, including F-35 Lightning II fighters, have also been deployed to Puerto Rico as part of the expanded presence. The deployment represents a significant escalation of U.S. military efforts in the Western Hemisphere under the current administration.
