USS Gerald R. Ford heads to Caribbean

By Riley Ceder –  Nov 5, 2025, 10:50 AM

The USS Gerald R. Ford, seen here transiting the Strait of Gibraltar on Oct. 1 for a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations, is currently heading toward the Caribbean. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Alyssa Joy/U.S. Navy)

Editor’s note: This report has been updated.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier and warship, along with the USS Bainbridge, a guided missile destroyer, officially departed the Mediterranean for the Caribbean on Tuesday morning, according to a U.S. defense official, as both vessels made their way to South America.

The carrier completed its transit of the Strait of Gibraltar on Tuesday, a move that was made in support of the U.S. military’s increasing footprint in the region.

The Pentagon announced in an Oct. 24 social media post it would be sending the carrier and its strike group to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility in support of what the Pentagon has called continued counternarcotics efforts.

“The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. 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,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in an X post.

The USS Gerald R. Ford Strike Group contains five destroyers, including the Bainbridge, but it is unclear whether the other four destroyers will join the SOUTHCOM area of operations.