The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG-107) is moored at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown prior to getting underway for a scheduled employment to the U.S. Northern Command area of responsibility. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ryan Williams)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon over the weekend deployed the US Navy destroyer Gravely (DDG-107) to join operations at the southern border, a move a top admiral acknowledged is “unusual” given the ship’s capabilities and the missions with which it will be tasked.
The Navy announced March 15 the ship deployed from Naval Weapons Station Yorktown heading towards the southern border where it will assist the Coast Guard in maritime drug interdictions and preventing illegal seaborne immigration, among other tasks. The destroyer will have a Coast Guard detachment aboard for certain law enforcement tasks.
“USS Gravely’s deployment will contribute to the U.S. Northern Command southern border mission as part of the DOD’s coordinated effort in response to the Presidential Executive Order. Gravely’s sea-going capacity improves our ability to protect the United States’ territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security,” Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), said in the Navy statement.
Speaking to reporters today, Navy Adm. Daryl Caudle, who is dual hatted in his roles as the head of US Fleet Forces and the naval forces component commander for NORTHCOM, said it is “unusual” to deploy an asset like Gravely, a Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, for the kinds of maritime interdiction missions its crew will soon take on.
“This is putting our toe in the water a bit to understand it, to make sure that we know how to employ this force,” he said. “Is the return on investment for this level of capability going to return good, fruitful utilization of it? And so, this first round will educate us on that to see if further continued, I think, global utilization of these forces is required.”
However, while Caudle said the mission was unusual, the request itself is not. NORTHCOM does request, as necessary, Navy ships to monitor Russian and Chinese vessels that are nearing US territorial waters.
“It is a bit unique to deploy a capability of this this level for this mission set, but I think it goes to the commitment that Navy has to the President and Secretary of Defense to support the southern border operations,” Caudle said.
The Navy previously deployed two P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, which had been patrolling the border, but will soon transition to surveilling the ocean in support of the Coast Guard and Navy’s operations.
Within days of the new administration coming into power, the Pentagon deployed 1,000 Army soldiers and 500 Marines to the southern border.
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