(FILES) An F-18E fighter jet takes off from aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford as it sails during NATO Neptune Strike 2025 exercise on September 24, 2025 in the North Sea. AFP/Jonathan Klein
By Prior Beharry
ST THOMAS, US VIRGIN ISLANDS – The aircraft carrier Gerald R Ford and its Carrier Strike Group docked in St Thomas on Monday for a short rest and refit period, the first port call since entering US Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) to support Operation Southern Spear.
The operation, conducted under the umbrella of the US Fourth Fleet, aims to disrupt and degrade transnational criminal networks operating across the Western Hemisphere,a relase by the US Navy on Monday stated.
Rear Admiral Paul Lanzilotta, commander of Carrier Strike Group Twelve, said, “The Sailors in our carrier strike group team have been extremely adaptable, taking our US Southern Command tasking as priority number one and each doing their part to support the defense of our Homeland.”
He said, “Our port visit in St Thomas gives us the rest and recuperation we need to continue the mission of upholding law and order across the Western Hemisphere in support of the President’s priorities.”
The USS Gerald Ford transited the Anegada Passage and entered the Caribbean Sea on November 16, 2025, and has since been operating as part of Joint Task Force Southern Spear. The mission also involves additional joint forces, including the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, to disrupt criminal networks that exploit shared borders and maritime domains.
The carrier’s voyage began with a June 24, 2025 deployment from Naval Station Norfolk.
According to the release, after a series of multi-domain operations in the Atlantic, the group moved east into the US Sixth Fleet area, crossing above the Arctic Circle and sailing through the Mediterranean with allies, participating in NATO’s Neptune Strike exercises (25-2 and 25-3) and making port calls in Croatia, France, Germany, Norway, and Spain. The force reached the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility after a westbound transit through the Strait of Gibraltar and a long transoceanic voyage on November 4.
Defense officials described the mission as a broad effort to deter and defeat illicit drug trafficking and other transnational crime, while protecting the Homeland. Operation Southern Spear is framed as a Department of War mission to bolster security and stability across the Western Hemisphere by increasing maritime domain awareness, disrupting criminal activity, and ensuring illicit trafficking does not reach US shores, the release stated.
