U.S. Marines conduct military exercise in Puerto Rico to counter Caribbean criminal networks.

U.S. Marines and Sailors have been carrying out joint drills in southern Puerto Rico since August 31, 2025. The exercises aim to enhance regional security and counter the expansion of criminal networks across the Caribbean.

The U.S. Marine Corps confirmed on September 25, 2025, that Marines and Sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) have been conducting extended amphibious and aviation operations in southern Puerto Rico since August 31. Coordinated with the Puerto Rican National Guard, the training supports a broader U.S. strategy to reinforce regional security and push back against transnational criminal networks spreading through the Caribbean.
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AH-1Y Cobra and UH-1Y Huey helicopters with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 (Reinforced), 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), fly in formation after launching from the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) during amphibious operations off the coast of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea, September 5, 2025. (Picture source: U.S. Department of War)

The U.S. amphibious operations are supported by the USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship leading the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG). Together with the 22nd MEU, the ARG brings a fully integrated U.S. Navy and Marine Corps force capable of rapid power projection, amphibious assaults, maritime interdiction, and crisis response. Training activities are concentrated around Camp Santiago, leveraging the island’s dense terrain and tropical climate to simulate real-world conditions found along drug trafficking corridors and littoral zones throughout Latin America.

As part of these operations, U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Y Cobra and UH-1Y Huey helicopters assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 (Reinforced) flew in formation over Puerto Rico during amphibious insertions from the USS Iwo Jima. These aircraft support close air support, troop transport, and aerial reconnaissance, enhancing the MEU’s flexibility in dynamic threat environments. The aviation component is critical to supporting over-the-horizon assault capabilities, including vertical envelopment and deep inland insertion, operational features essential in disrupting cartel logistics and denying them maritime access routes.

The 22nd MEU (SOC) is a specialized and highly mobile expeditionary force equipped to conduct missions across the full spectrum of military operations. It includes a command element, a reinforced infantry battalion landing team, a combat logistics battalion, and an aviation combat element. This composition gives the MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) the ability to launch combined arms amphibious assaults, non-combatant evacuations, counter-drug interdictions, and special operations capable missions without reliance on land-based infrastructure. In Puerto Rico, the unit is conducting live-fire training, coordinated amphibious landings, aerial resupply drills, and integrated reconnaissance patrols, all under realistic operational conditions.

This deployment directly supports U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) in its ongoing effort to counter the proliferation of transnational criminal organizations, which continue to exploit maritime routes for trafficking drugs, weapons, and people into Central America, the Caribbean, and ultimately the U.S. mainland. As trafficking networks adapt to evade detection, the need for highly mobile and adaptable maritime forces becomes more urgent. Amphibious units like the 22nd MEU provide a scalable and sovereign enforcement capability able to interdict illicit flows and project U.S. influence without permanent basing or reliance on partner infrastructure.

The U.S. Department of War emphasized that these operations are being conducted in close coordination with local government authorities, emergency services, and Puerto Rican defense leadership, ensuring minimal disruption to civilian life while maintaining transparency and operational safety. Residents may observe increased helicopter traffic, military vehicles in tactical formations, and naval activity off the southern coast throughout the training window.

Puerto Rico’s location offers unique strategic value. As a U.S. territory within direct reach of key smuggling routes, it enables persistent presence and rapid response in a region increasingly targeted by both criminal networks and foreign influence. The terrain diversity and climate provide an ideal proving ground for expeditionary operations, jungle training, and littoral maneuver, all of which are core competencies of the U.S. Marine Corps crisis response forces.

In addition to live operations, the deployment includes combined training with the Puerto Rican National Guard, designed to enhance local readiness, improve interoperability, and build disaster response capacity. The joint effort reflects a broader U.S. strategy focused not only on kinetic capabilities but also on regional partnerships and capacity building, which are essential in stabilizing areas affected by organized crime and illicit economic activity.

As the 22nd MEU continues operations in the Caribbean Sea aboard the USS Iwo Jima and associated amphibious platforms, it serves as a visible extension of U.S. military readiness and deterrence in the Western Hemisphere. The deployment underscores Washington’s intent to maintain freedom of navigation, deny transnational criminal groups maritime maneuver space, and protect U.S. citizens and interests from destabilizing threats along its southern approaches.

Army Recognition will continue to deliver exclusive coverage of the 22nd MEU’s operations, with upcoming reports on amphibious capability enhancements, littoral mobility assets, and joint U.S.-Caribbean training initiatives shaping the future of regional security.

Written by Alain Servaes – Chief Editor, Army Recognition Group
Alain Servaes is a former infantry non-commissioned officer and the founder of Army Recognition. With over 20 years in defense journalism, he provides expert analysis on military equipment, NATO operations, and the global defense industry.