United States Soldiers scan their sector at a known crossing point of the Rio Grande in Brownsville, Texas, on February 25, 2025. U.S. Northern Command is working with the Department of Homeland Security to augment U.S. Customs and Border Protection along the southern border with additional military forces. SGT. 1ST CLASS ANDREW SVEEN/U.S. ARMY THE WATCH STAFF The Pentagon has ordered about 3,000 additional active-duty troops to the Mexico-United States border, including Soldiers from a motorized brigade equipped with 20-ton armored Stryker combat vehicles and a General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB), in the latest expansion of the border mission. About 2,400…
The Watch
Migrants are escorted by officers of the Turks and Caicos Marine Branch and the Fisheries and Marine Resources Management on February 17, 2025. ROYAL TURNKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS POLICE FORCE THE WATCH STAFF In a major operation, law enforcement apprehended 148 migrants in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) after their vessel was intercepted on February 17, 2025. The interdiction involved a coordinated effort by multiple agencies, including the Marine Branch, Fisheries and Marine Resources Management, the TCI Regiment, TCI Border Force, the Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies, the Maritime Operations Centre, and the United States Coast Guard. The…
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) icebreaker, Xuelong 2, in Antarctica in December 2024. The CCP has sought to challenge the U.S. and its allies in the Arctic with dual-use scientific voyages, often accompanied by icebreakers. AFP/GETTY IMAGES DR. CAMERON CARLSON/UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS The Arctic has become a key theater of global competition with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pursuing extensive economic, scientific and military initiatives to expand its influence. For the United States, countering the CCP’s Arctic ambitions is essential to meeting its northern border’s homeland defense needs while maintaining stability in this strategically significant area. In its 2018…
U.S. Embassy Charge d’Affaires Kimberly Furnish, center, visits local schools on Andros Island in the Bahamas in February 2025. Furnish cautioned the Bahamas from signing on to the Chinese Communist Party’s One Belt, One Road initiative, urging the Caribbean nation instead to diversify its economy and increase transparency. NAVAL UNDERSEA WARFARE CENTER THE WATCH STAFF A senior United States diplomat cautioned the Bahamas against exploring closer trade ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in January 2025 after the CCP ambassador to the Caribbean nation urged it to join Beijing’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative at a business roundtable.…
The crew of an Alaska Army National Guard CH-47F Chinook assigned to 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment, at the Whitehorse airport, Yukon Territory, Canada, supported the repair of a 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60G Pave Hawk that had rescued two victims of a January 26, 2025, ultralight plane crash near Faro, Yukon Territory. SIMON BLAKESLEY THE WATCH STAFF The hardest-working people in rescue operations? It seemed that way for the Alaska Air National Guard’s 176th Wing in the final week of January 2025. They flew to a distant Canadian town after an ultralight plane crashed nearby; responded to a…
Canadian and U.S. warplanes intercepted Russian bombers near Alaska in February 2025. Such intercepts, like the 2020 incident pictured, are routine, the command stated. NORAD REUTERS Several Russian strategic bombers and fighter jets were intercepted by North American air defense forces as they flew over international airspace near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said. The aircraft, which were identified on February 10, 2025, did not enter United States or Canadian airspace and did not pose a threat, the joint Canadian-U.S. command said in a statement. NORAD added that the Russian flights were in no way related to…
Royal Canadian Navy officer Vice Adm. Angus Topshee, commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, welcomes guests to the B Jetty opening ceremony on February 5, 2025. The infrastructure upgrade to replace two World War II-era jetties and marks a major capability upgrade for the Canadian Armed Forces. THE LOOKOUT THE WATCH STAFF Canada’s second-largest naval base marked a historic infrastructure investment in February 2025 with the completion of a jetty able to accommodate a new generation of Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) vessels, strengthening the ability of the RCN to defend the Canadian and U.S. Pacific coasts. The new jetty is…
Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander of United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, testifies at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 13, 2025. REUTERS THE WATCH STAFF The U.S. Department of Defense needs more robust technology and expanded authority to counter numerous incursions by small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) at U.S. military installations, the commander of United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) told lawmakers on February 13. Gen. Gregory M. Guillot revealed more details about the military’s drone challenges at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “The primary threat…
Elements of the Mexican Army, the National Guard and the Jalisco Security Secretariat guard one of four armored vehicles that were seized from drug cartels in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco State, Mexico, in February 2025. The raid netted four arrests, and authorities seized material to make explosives, video surveillance cameras, tactical equipment and several firearms. REUTERS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Canada on February 11 named a former deputy commissioner with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as the country’s fentanyl czar, hoping to show the U.S. it is working to prevent production and distribution of the synthetic opioid. During his more than 20 years in the…
Elements of the Mexican Army, the National Guard and the Jalisco Security Secretariat guard one of four armored vehicles that were seized from drug cartels in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco State, Mexico, in February 2025. The raid netted four arrests, and authorities seized material to make explosives, video surveillance cameras, tactical equipment and several firearms. AFP/GETTY IMAGES THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The U.S. government is formally designating eight Latin American crime organizations as foreign terrorist organizations, upping its pressure on cartels operating in the country and on anyone aiding them. The move, carrying out a January 20, 2025, executive order by President Donald Trump, names Tren de Aragua…