Crew members aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz perform physical training on the carrier deck while in the Pacific Ocean on March 21, 2026. (Jaron Wills/U.S. Navy)
The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz will sail around the southern tip of South America as part of the U.S. 4th Fleet’s Southern Seas 2026 deployment, U.S. Southern Command announced Monday.
Along with Nimitz, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley will conduct passing exercises at sea with ships of other nations as they circumnavigate the South American continent.
The Navy said joint exercises are planned with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Uruguay. Port visits are planned in Brazil, Chile, Panama and Jamaica.
Southern Seas 2026 marks the 11th such exercise in the region since 2007. The Nimitz and its Carrier Strike Group 11 will be operating in the waters of the 4th Fleet, which includes the southern Pacific, southern Atlantic and Caribbean.
“Deployments like this demonstrate our unwavering commitment to ensuring a secure and stable Western Hemisphere,” said Rear Adm. Carlos Sardiello, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet.
The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group includes the Nimitz as its flagship, the embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17, the Gridley and the staff of Destroyer Squadron 9.
The air wing consists of six squadrons flying F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, C-2A Greyhounds and MH-60R/S Seahawks.
An F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to the “Kestrels” of Strike Fighter Squadron 137, takes off of the flight deck of aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the Pacific Ocean, March 20, 2026. (Tanner Orth/U.S. Navy)
Elements include Helicopter Maritime Squadron (HSM) 73, Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 6, Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40, Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 22, VFA-137, and Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 139.
“We look forward to continuing the Nimitz legacy of teamwork as we engage with and train alongside our regional partners,” said Rear Adm. Cassidy Norman, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 11.
USS Nimitz was homeported at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Wash., until this month, when it was ordered to move to Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. The Navy’s oldest aircraft carrier, commissioned in 1975, was scheduled to begin its retirement and decommissioning next month upon arrival on the East Coast.
The Navy announced this month that the ship will stay in service until at least 2027, when the USS John F. Kennedy, the second Gerald R. Ford-class carrier to be built, is scheduled for commissioning. The John F. Kennedy is scheduled to be homeported at Naval Base Kitsap in 2029.
Under a congressional mandate, the Navy must have a minimum of 11 operational aircraft carriers. The retirement of the Nimitz prior to the John F. Kennedy joining the fleet would have left the Navy with just 10 carriers.
