Pentagon deploys Navy destroyer for border protection
A Navy warship is joining the effort to secure the U.S. southern border — an unusual move announced by the Pentagon over the weekend.
The USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer most recently deployed to the Middle East, departed Virginia on Saturday on its new mission to operate in U.S. and international waters, according to the Pentagon.
A specialized Coast Guard maritime policing team, known as a Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET), will be aboard the ship.
“Gravely’s sea-going capacity improves our ability to protect the United States’ territorial integrity, sovereignty and security,” Northern Command leader Gen. Gregory Guillot said in a statement.
President Trump declared a national emergency on the border and signed multiple executive orders shortly after taking office in January to bolster security efforts there.
“As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I am going to do,” Trump said in his inaugural address.
Thousands of active-duty troops have been deployed, but the use of a guided missile-destroying ship is new.
Adm. Daryl Caudle of the Naval Forces Northern Command said the deployment “marks a vital enhancement to our nation’s border security framework.”
“In collaboration with our interagency partners, Gravely strengthens our maritime presence and exemplifies the Navy’s commitment to national security and safeguarding our territorial integrity with professionalism and resolve,” he said in a statement.
The 509-foot Gravely is larger than the Coast Guard’s vessels and is equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles. It returned to the U.S. in July after a nine-month deployment defending against Houthi attacks on shipping activity in the Red Sea.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled with White House border czar Tom Homan in early February to Texas to survey the border and stress the military's role in combating illegal immigration.
“Any assets necessary at the Defense Department to support the expulsion and detention of those in the country illegally are on the table,” he told reporters during the trip.
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