After nearly 10 months, Marines assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit are finally heading home.
The 22nd MEU, embarked with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, deployed from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in August and headed for the Caribbean, where personnel took part in Operation Southern Spear, the Pentagon’s campaign to combat what it has labeled as narcoterrorist operations to push illicit drugs into the United States.
The Iwo Jima ARG, which included the namesake amphibious assault ship, the amphibious transport dock Fort Lauderdale and the amphibious transport dock San Antonio, made headlines earlier this year when it took part in the Jan. 3 capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Hours after the raid, U.S. President Donald Trump shared a photo reportedly showing Maduro blindfolded aboard the USS Iwo Jima.
“Throughout its deployment, the [22nd MEU] executed a wide range of missions, including reinforcing U.S. embassies in Haiti and Venezuela, conducting maritime interception operations to counter illicit trafficking, delivering more than 780,000 pounds of humanitarian aid to Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa and participating in multiple bilateral exercises with regional partners across the Caribbean,” a service release stated.
The 22nd MEU includes personnel from Battalion Landing Team 3/6, Combat Logistics Battalion 26, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 (Reinforced) and special operations troops.
The USS San Antonio, meanwhile, returned home to Naval Station Norfolk in April.
J.D. Simkins is Editor-in-Chief of Military Times and Defense News, and a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War.