The U.S. Navy’s oldest aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its strike group are now officially operating in the Caribbean Sea, according to U.S. Southern Command.
The Wednesday announcement came on the same day that the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against the country’s former president Raúl Castro, 94, for his part in a 1996 shoot-down of a plane that killed three Americans.
“The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), the embarked Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW-17), USS Gridley (DDG 101) and USNS Patuxent (T-AO 201) are the epitome of readiness and presence, unmatched reach and lethality, and strategic advantage,” SOUTHCOM said.
Carrier Air Wing 17 contains nine squadrons that fly F/A-18C/E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2D Hawkeyes, C-2A Greyhounds and MH-60R/S Sea Hawks.
The USS Nimitz returned in December 2025 from a nine-month deployment to the U.S. 3rd, 5th and 7th Fleets that began March 21, 2025.
The carrier was set to be decommissioned in 2026, having been originally commissioned in 1975, but the Navy announced in March 2026 that it was extending its service life to March 2027.
The carrier left Naval Base Kitsap, Washington, on March 7, 2026, as part of a final scheduled homeport shift to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia.
But on March 23, the USS Nimitz deployed to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility to participate in Southern Seas 2026, a maritime exercise conducted in partnership with South American allies.
The timing of the carrier’s deployment to the Caribbean coincides with a newfound strain in the historically thorny relationship between the U.S. and Cuba.
The U.S. has reportedly ramped up military intelligence gathering flights off the coast of Cuba over the past few months, with the U.S. Navy and Air Force sending aircraft and drones near the island 25 times since Feb. 4, according to CNN.
President Trump has voiced his political interest in the country several times during his time in the Oval Office, most recently declaring on Wednesday that he and his administration have “Cuba on our mind.”
Months earlier, Trump floated the idea of a “friendly takeover of Cuba” on Feb. 27, a day before the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran.
Trump also signed an executive order on Jan. 29 imposing a tariff on all nations selling oil to Cuba.
The economic pressure that has resulted from the tariff has contributed to problems with the country’s power grid, forcing rolling blackouts and fuel shortages.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Cuba on May 14 to discuss matters of diplomacy and national and international security, reportedly telling Cuban officials that the Trump administration would “seriously engage” with the island’s government if it made “fundamental changes.”
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
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