The USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) has left port in Norfolk, Virginia, after returning days earlier to avoid Hurricane Erin.
The three amphibious ships, which the Navy says are carrying more than 4,500 sailors and Marines, could be seen leaving Norfolk on Sunday in video and imagery posted on social media.
An official, who spoke to Military Times last week on the condition of anonymity to discuss the deployment, said the ships had planned to enter Caribbean waters under the command of U.S. Southern Command when they initially deployed on Aug. 14, but had been delayed by the storm.
The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) is deployed aboard the ships, which include the amphibious assault flagship Iwo Jima, along with the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships San Antonio and Fort Lauderdale. The deployment marks the first for a Marine Expeditionary Unit in more than five months.
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The Pentagon has not announced what exercises or operations the Marine Expeditionary Unit will conduct while sailing in the Caribbean.
President Donald Trump has said he wants to strengthen the military while tackling immigration issues and stopping illicit drugs from entering the United States. He designated Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua as global terrorist organizations in February.
Multiple Navy destroyers deployed to the eastern Pacific earlier this year to help with the counter-narcotics fight on the West Coast, Military Times previously reported.
When potential drug smugglers or migrant traffickers have been identified at sea, a Coast Guard law enforcement team onboard a Navy ship can raise its ensign to create what’s commonly referred to as a “title shift,” granting the ship authorities under Title 14 to carry out law enforcement activities ranging from inquiries, examinations, searches, seizures and arrests.
