The destroyer USS Spruance recently helped the Coast Guard and agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, take 13 people into custody as part of the ship’s mission to bolster security on the southern border, according to U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM.
The Spruance left San Diego on March 22 to assist U.S. government agencies assigned to combat transitional crime, piracy, illegal immigration, and other activities, a NORTHCOM news release says. An embedded Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment is aboard the Spruance during its border security mission.
One day after getting underway, the destroyer used its radar to help the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter and a CBP interceptor boat interdict a suspect vessel, NORTHCOM wrote in a March 29 post on X.
No further information was immediately available about what type of alleged illicit activity the 13 people apprehended by CBP agents are accused of doing.
Since President Donald Trump issued an executing order in January directing the military to support the Department of Homeland Security on border security, more than 10,000 troops have either deployed or been approved to deploy to the region, including about 2,400 soldiers with the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
The Spruance, which is operating in the Pacific, is one of two Navy destroyers taking part in border security missions. The USS Gravely left its homeport of Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Virginia on March 15.
The Gravely and Spruance are deployed to the waters off Mexico. According to Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, head of NORTHCOM, the warships’ presence represents “our resolve to achieve operational control of the border.”
Prior to returning to its homeport of San Diego in December, the Spruance spent five months deployed with the strike group for the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, during which the Spruance and another destroyer, USS Stockdale, were attacked by Houthi drones and anti-ship missiles. Neither ship was damaged, and no sailors were hurt in the attack.
A photo posted on the Spruance’s Facebook page in January showing the ship’s victory markings indicates that it had downed six missiles and seven drones during its deployment.
The latest on Task & Purpose
- Those ‘Hegseth bodyguards’ are actually there for the Air Force’s ‘Doomsday’ plane
- Army wants junior officers to fix quality-of-life issues that drive soldiers out
- ‘100% OPSEC’ apparently means texting military plans to a reporter
- Ranger School’s new fitness test is tougher than ever, but nixes sit-ups
- This photo of Air Force special ops pool training is chaos. There’s a reason for that.