Navy
Navy deploys second destroyer on security mission to southern border
Stars and Stripes
March 23, 2025
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) transits San Diego Bay for a scheduled employment to the U.S. Northern Command area of responsibility on March 22, 2025. (Claire M. Alfaro/U.S. Navy)
The Navy has deployed a second destroyer to support security operations at the southern border.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance departed Naval Base San Diego on Saturday to help deter illegal crossings and drug trafficking as part of the military’s efforts to bolster security along the southern border, the service said in a news release. It will be accompanied by an embedded U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment.
Spruance joins guided missile destroyer USS Gravely, which left Naval Weapons Station Yorktown in Virginia a week earlier.
“USS Spruance’s deployment as part of U.S. Northern Command’s southern border mission brings additional capability and expands the geography of unique military capabilities working with the Department of Homeland Security,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot, the NORTHCOM commander. “With Spruance off the West Coast and USS Gravely in the Gulf of America, our maritime presence contributes to the all-domain, coordinated DOD response to the Presidential Executive Order and demonstrates our resolve to achieve operational control of the border.”
In December, Spruance returned to San Diego following a five-month deployment to the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operation as part of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group. The strike group was ordered to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to bolster U.S. military force posture in the Middle East, deter regional escalation, degrade Houthi capabilities, defend U.S. forces, and sailed alongside allies and partners to promote security, stability and prosperity.
Sailors man the rails as Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) leaves the pier at Naval Base San Diego on March 22, 2025. (Claire M. Alfaro/U.S. Navy)