The Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Detroit (LCS 7) deployed to support Regional Cooperation and Secuity. Detroit is one of four ships assigned to Surface Division 21. (Anthony Junco/U.S. Navy)
U.S. Southern Command is set to gain the services of the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Detroit, along with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 28, Detachment 11, according to a Navy news release.
The primary mission of the USS Detroit, which got underway Wednesday, will be to support counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. The deployment also will include practical exercises and exchanges with partner nation maritime services to support U.S. 4th Fleet interoperability, according to the release.
Cmdr. Kyle Hickman, the Detroit’s commanding officer, said the crew of more than 100 sailors has been “extremely dedicated in its preparation” and “is looking forward to building upon the successes of the USS Milwaukee and USS Little Rock.”
Among the crew is a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment and an aviation detachment, which will operate an MH-60 helicopter, the release said.
“The crew executed a very difficult training cycle,” said Cmdr. Bruce Hallett, executive officer of the Detroit. “They exceeded all expectations.”
USS Detroit was commissioned in October 2016 at Naval Station Mayport in Florida, where it is homeported. Three years later, it embarked on its first deployment to the 4th Fleet area of operations, also in support of counter-illicit trafficking operations. That lasted more than seven months.
Its second deployment to the region began in September 2020 and ended just over two months later.
