U.S. Marine Corps Col. Ryan Lynch, right, commanding officer of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, gives a tour to Marine Corps Gen. Franics Donovan, the commander of U.S. Southern Command, during an operational site survey in Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Puerto Rico, on May 24, 2026. (Kevin Rivas/U.S. Marine Corps)
The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit is now the main tactical force deployed to support operations in the U.S. Southern Command region. It replaced the 22nd MEU, which is headed back to Camp Lejeune, Marines at the North Carolina base said Friday.
The 24th MEU, which like the 22nd MEU is part of Camp Lejeune’s II Marine Expeditionary Force, deployed to Puerto Rico in recent weeks to take over the “force-in-readiness” role for SOUTHCOM. The 22nd MEU held that mission for about 10 months while embarked on the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima and others assigned to its Amphibious Readiness Group.
The 24th MEU did not deploy with an Amphibious Readiness Group, the Marine Corps said. Instead, it will operate as Littoral Combat Force-24 deployed largely on land with the ability to operate from amphibious transport docks. Marines from the 24th MEU will operate from USS Fort Lauderdale, an amphibious transport dock, which was assigned to the Iwo Jima ARG but will remain in the region.
The MEU includes some 1,300 Marines and sailors with land and air capabilities and will support Task Force 84-2, the Pentagon’s counter-narcotics operations force that has struck dozens of suspected drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean in recent months in a mission dubbed Operation Southern Spear.
“The Marines and sailors of LCF-24 are postured to execute all prescribed mission sets directed by our higher echelons of leadership to deter the threats facing our hemisphere today,” Col. Ryan Lynch, commanding officer of the 24th MEU, said in a statement. “Through our transition with the 22nd MEU, we have seamlessly assumed the watch. Our posture is active, our forces are integrated, and we are committed to standing as the regional security partner of choice.”
The 22nd MEU, while assigned to the mission, conducted dozens of missions including counter-narcotics, providing reinforcements for the American embassies in Haiti and Venezuela, delivering humanitarian aid to Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa and training alongside partner nations across the Caribbean, the Marine Corps said. Those Marines are expected back at Camp Lejeune on Monday.
Marine officials said the 24th MEU has spent recent months training on a wide range of capabilities to conduct any operations it is asked to while deployed to SOUTHCOM.
Deployments of large tactical forces to the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility have been rare in recent decades, as the military has for years placed more focus on operations in places such as the Middle East and Asia. President Donald Trump, since returning to the White House last year, has placed a new emphasis on operations in the Western Hemisphere — especially on strikes on suspected drug boats and an operation Jan. 3 to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from his country to face U.S. federal drug, weapons and conspiracy charges.
Marine Gen. Francis Donovan, SOUTHCOM’s commander, said the 24th MEU’s deployment showed the United States’ commitment to operations in Southern Command.
“The Western Hemisphere is no longer a permissive environment for narcoterrorists, criminal syndicates, or their state sponsors,” Donovan said in a statement. “With Littoral Combat Force-24 taking the helm of tactical operations, we are sending an unambiguous message: the United States is committed to defending our homeland and securing a prosperous, stable hemisphere alongside our enduring partners.”
