USS Fort Lauderdale Leads US Southern Command’s Large-Scale Caribbean Deployment

The United States Southern Command has intensified its presence in the Caribbean under Operation Southern Spear, a mission announced in November 2025 by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and directed by President Trump. The amphibious transport ship USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD‑28) serves as the primary platform for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which includes over 1,300 Marines and sailors and took over from the 22nd MEU on May 29 2026. In total, more than 4,500 U.S. sailors and Marines are deployed, supported by the nuclear‑powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, Arleigh Burke‑class destroyers, F‑35B fighters, surveillance drones and the Guantánamo Naval Base as a logistics hub. The operation authorises lethal kinetic strikes against vessels linked to drug trafficking, a shift from previous capture‑only policies. Since its launch, the joint task force has carried out over 62 assaults, resulting in more than 208 fatalities among suspected traffickers, including a recent strike that killed two and left six survivors. The deployment, the largest U.S. military presence in the Caribbean since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, is estimated to cost up to $4.7 billion, with daily expenditures reaching $20 million.