U.S. Soldiers, assigned to 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 12th Infantry Regiment, patrol the southern border outside of Sierra Blanca, Texas, on March 31, 2025. Under the direction of U.S. Northern Command, Joint Task Force – Southern Border aligns efforts to seal the border and repel illegal activity. PFC. MALIK WADDDY FIFFEE/U.S. ARMY United States President Donald Trump, in a national security memo signed April 11, authorized the transfer of federal land along the U.S.-Mexico border to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to support the mission to halt illegal immigration. The 60-foot-wide, 700-mile-long strip of land, known as…
The Watch
The flight deck crew aboard a French Navy Atlantique 2 surveillance plane monitor cockpit instruments as the aircraft patrols over the Baltic Sea in January 2025 as part of NATO’s Baltic Sentry mission. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THE WATCH STAFF Three months after NATO announced Baltic Sentry, a mission to guard undersea communications cables in the Baltic Sea after commercial ships were accused of damaging equipment and a gas pipeline there, no new sabotage has been alleged in the waterway. The incidents had raised fears of Russia creating havoc and spying in the strategic region. “Across the alliance, we have seen elements of…
Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander of the United States Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee in April 2025. Guillot, pictured above testifying before Congress in 2024, has requested the authority to disable unmanned aerial systems within 5 miles of the Mexico-U.S. border. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE THE WATCH STAFF The commander of the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) told a Congressional committee in April 2025 that he has requested permission to shoot down drones near the Mexico-U.S. border to…
Sailors from the Mexican and U.S. navies participate in the closing ceremony of the North American Maritime Security Initiative Pacific Exercise 2023. CMDR. DAN SLEDZ/U.S. NAVY THE WATCH STAFF Maritime security forces from Canada, Mexico and the United States gathered last year for two exercises held a few weeks apart designed to increase the effectiveness of the North American nations in tackling illicit activity in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The North American Maritime Security Initiative (NAMSI) exercises, based out of U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) facilities in San Diego, California and Corpus Christi, Texas, better acquainted the Canadian maritime forces,…
This undated photo provided by the U.S. District Attorney shows confiscated drug money. On March 31, the United States Treasury said six people and seven companies used a “network of front companies and shell corporations” to launder money for factions of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The United States Treasury sanctioned six people and seven companies March 31 for alleged money laundering for factions of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, underscoring the group’s new designation as a foreign terrorist organization. The U.S. designation aimed at “targeting the financial operations” of the cartel, which has raked in money by…
A Canadian CF-18 Hornet fighter jet from the Canadian NORAD region escorts a U.S. Boeing B-52 Stratofortress in Canadian airspace on March 17, 2025. OPERATION GLOBAL GUARDIAN 25-2 THE WATCH STAFF North American and European air forces conducted Operation Global Guardian on March 17, 2025, to demonstrate the advantage of global alliances, layered all-domain defense and the seamless integration of Quick Response Alert (QRA) fighters and ground-based air defense networks between the North American Arctic and Northern European Arctic. Air forces from six nations participated, including Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United States. Operation Global Guardian is…
The Second Annual AFNORTH Enlisted Leadership and Development Subject Matter Expert Exchange in May 2024 provided a valuable platform for enlisted leaders across the hemisphere to exchange knowledge. SENIOR MASTER SGT. ALEJANDRO VELEZ/AFNORTH AIR FORCES NORTHERN The Mexican Secretariat of National Defense (DEFENSA) and the Mexican Air Force (FAM) reached a historic milestone March 1 with the establishment of the Sargento Primero Ayudante del Comandante de la Fuerza Aérea Mexicana, the highest enlisted position within FAM. This achievement reflects the dedication of DEFENSA and FAM Commander Gen. Óscar René Rubio Sánchez, whose commitment to enlisted force development has strengthened the…
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference in Panama City, on April 9, 2025. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. Space Command said April 9 that it has finalized options for the “Golden Dome” missile defense system and has sent its recommendations to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for his review and approval. The futuristic system was ordered by President Donald Trump during his first week in office and, if successful, would mark the first time the U.S. places weapons in space that are meant to destroy ground-based missiles within seconds of launch. In his January executive order,…
The Finnish government is asking its Parliament to extend a border closure measure, enacted in July 2024, that closes off the Nordic country’s land frontier with Russia. REUTERS REUTERS Finland’s government asked Parliament in March 2025 to extend until the end of 2026 a law that allows it to reject asylum applications from migrants crossing its closed eastern border with Russia and to send them back. NATO member Finland has accused Russia of weaponizing migration by encouraging migrants from third countries to cross their shared border, an assertion the Kremlin has repeatedly denied. “The threat of instrumentalized migration at Finland’s eastern border remains…
A U.S. Soldier, attached to 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, wears snowshoes during Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 24-02 at Donnelly training area, Alaska. The Soldiers used the cold weather gear move along the wood line for 1 kilometer. PFC. ELIJAH MAGAÑA/U.S. ARMY THE WATCH STAFF For the first time in more than 50 years, the U.S. Army has released a manual that will serve as a blueprint for Soldiers and Marines operating in the Arctic and extreme cold. The 267-page Army Techniques Publication (ATP) 3-90.96: Arctic and Extreme Cold Weather Operations was published in February. The new document comes…