As part of the new U.S. security policies, the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Stockdale (DDG-106) has been deployed to patrol the Eastern Pacific, near the border with Mexico. Operating under U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the ship departed last Friday, April 11, from Naval Base San Diego, California, with a Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) onboard.
This deployment, aligned with the priorities of the new White House administration and becoming increasingly common, includes Coast Guard personnel aboard the USS Stockdale (DDG-106) to provide expertise in maritime interdiction. For many observers, this marks an unprecedented concentration of naval assets along the U.S.–Mexico border, accompanied by the deployment of troops along the land boundary between the two countries.
The USS Stockdale (DDG-106) has served extensively in the Pacific and has also operated in the Middle East as part of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) Carrier Strike Group. During that deployment, the destroyer was targeted for a third time by Houthi drone attacks while transiting the Gulf of Aden alongside USS O’Kane (DDG-77) in December 2024. After seven months of deployment, Stockdale returned to the U.S. to replace USS Spruance (DDG-111), which departed San Diego on March 22 and returned on April 10 after patrolling the southern border, as part of ongoing naval operations in support of national security efforts.
This announcement follows last month’s statement by U.S. Fleet Forces Commander Admiral Daryl Caudle, who confirmed that ships operating in the Pacific in support of USNORTHCOM missions would focus on the U.S.–Mexico border. “You can think of operations in the Gulf of Mexico as the predominant [southern border reinforcement] mission area for East Coast ships, and for West Coast ships, the area around San Diego and the maritime traffic between Mexico and the United States,” Caudle explained.
You may also like: Austal advances construction of five new Navajo-class rescue and salvage tugs for the U.S. Navy
