US Troop Deployment to the Caribbean with First Images Released
According to US Fleet Forces, this landing falls under “flight operations during a regularly scheduled deployment.”
According to the publication in X, the photograph corresponds to this Sunday, August 24 and was taken in an area of the Atlantic Ocean. The official US Fleet Forces account posted the first images of the deployment of US troops to international waters in the Caribbean Sea, 200 miles off the coast of Venezuela. According to the publication in X, the photograph corresponds to this Sunday, August 24, and was taken in an area of the Atlantic Ocean. “Atlantic Ocean (August 24, 2025) An AV-8B Harrier lands on the flight deck of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7),” the post noted. According to the US Fleet Forces, this landing falls under “flight operations during a regularly scheduled deployment.”
These images come a week after President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of seven warships, two submarines, a radar aircraft, and more than 8,000 troops to the Caribbean Sea, near the Venezuelan coast. The forces were sent to the area to stop the trafficking of drugs from South America to Venezuela. The photo was shared by the USS Iwo Jima, the assault ship that belongs to the Amphibious Ready Deployment Group. According to the Bogotá newspaper El Tiempo, it is the first group of vessels that Washington ordered to mobilize to the area. Additionally, the amphibious group includes the ships USS San Antonio and USS Fort Lauderdale, which are also headed to the area and were delayed due to the effects of Hurricane Erin.
Other ships headed to the area include the USS Gravely, the USS Jason Dunham, and the USS Sampson. There is also a guided-missile cruiser called the USS Lake Erie. As for the submarines, one is nuclear and the other is called the USS Newport News, reported the Colombian network Caracol. The image of the USS Iwo Jima is dated August 24, which is consistent with the estimated arrival dates of U.S. ships to Venezuelan shores, and shows the moment the AV-8B Harrier attack aircraft lands on the ship’s flight deck. According to the X post, the Iwo Jima and the group of marines traveling on it are a lethal force ready to respond to the mission. News report below:
