Mexican Marines stand guard at a pier in Baja California in this undated photo from the Mexican government. In February 2025, 10 U.S. Army Green Berets traveled to Campeche, Mexico, to engage in a six-week training exercise with Mexican Marines. GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO
THE WATCH STAFF
United States Green Beret Soldiers flew to Mexico in February 2025 to train with Mexican Marines in a nearly six-week exercise at a Mexican naval base in Campeche. The training will last until the end of March and was approved unanimously by the Mexican Senate, according to multiple news sites.
Ten Soldiers from the United States Army’s 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), based at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, flew to the Mexican base in a C-130 plane. The group has participated in peacekeeping operations in Ecuador, Panama and Peru. The unit also saw combat in Afghanistan.
Scott Stewart, vice president of intelligence for international security consultant TorchStone Global, told the Border Report, a U.S. news website focusing on the Mexico-U.S. border region, that the training was intended to increase the capability of the Mexican Marines or Infantería de Marina. The training will take place at the Luis Carpizo naval facility in Campeche and is designed to increase operational compatibility between the forces and promote regional stability.
“This evolving relationship between the two nations reflects their shared interest in addressing transnational security concerns like drug trafficking and organized crime,” reported SOFREP, a military affairs website.
Mexican elected officials praised the collaborative effort, saying the training will boost the Mexican military’s effectiveness in special operations, involving both military intelligence and field tactics. Sen. Rolando Rodrigo Zapata Bello said such bilateral exchanges bolster Mexico’s national security and will improve intelligence gathering and sharing between the two nations, strengthening border security and combating transnational crime, according to the Campeche Post, an English-language Mexican newspaper. Sen. Lilly Téllez García also spoke positively of the training, according to the newspaper, saying the exercise should be viewed as a collaborative attempt to battle organized crime.
The Mexican Marines have taken the lead in combating drug trafficking since the 2000s, evolving from an earlier emphasis on port and maritime security to a greater role in land-based operations focused on suppressing cartel activity and drug production. The military branch also contains special forces personnel, which made the 2025 training exercise with the Green Berets so valuable.
Forging closer ties with Mexican special forces to secure the border and stem the flow of migrants, drugs and other contraband is a high priority for the U.S. In his February 2025 remarks to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said training exercises like the one in Mexico yield dividends to the U.S., its allies and partners.
“Building our partners’ ability to operate with U.S. forces has led directly to improved regional domain awareness, information sharing, and cooperation against shared security challenges, especially given the efforts of peer competitors to gain influence with the United States’ nearest neighbors,” Guillot said. “USNORTHCOM’s dedicated efforts to support our partners’ defense requirements over the years have played an important role in maintaining the United States as the clear partner of choice while simultaneously improving our partners’ capability and capacity for addressing internal security challenges. USNORTHCOM remains committed to these essential relationships.