Maj. Gen. Juan José Gómez Ruiz was sworn in as the new commander of the Mexican Army after the retirement of Maj. Gen. Francisco Jesús Leana Ojeda, the Secretariat of National Defense announced April 1, 2026. President Claudia Sheinbaum approved Maj. Gen. Gómez Ruiz’s appointment as commander. Maj. Gen. Arturo Coronel Flores, chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the National Defense, administered the oath of office and led the oath of allegiance to the flag at Military Camp No. 1-A in Mexico City. Maj. Gen. Gómez Ruiz will supervise administration and development of the Mexican Army, as well…
The Watch
Arctic experts applauded recent efforts by the United States to bolster its presence in the High North but said that challenges remain to stymie efforts by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Russia to increase their military leverage in the region. The expert testimony came in March 2026 before a joint meeting of two congressional subcommittees of the House Homeland Security Committee. “The Arctic region is within homeland defense,” said Heather Conley, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank, according to Stars and Stripes, a U.S. military newspaper. “It’s part of our integrated defense…
The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) Regiment will be expanded as part of a broader shift in the British Overseas Territory’s security strategy, the TCI government announced in March 2026. Premier Charles Washington Misick announced the expansion during his March 18 State of the State address as part of a larger overhaul of TCI’s security posture, including strengthening the Royal TCI Police Force and the Border Force to tackle illegal migration and gang violence. The changes will bolster the regiment’s ability to contribute to regional stability, Misick said. The TCI Regiment was created in 2020 and consists of six full-time…
The commander of the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) told Congress in March 2026 that the execution of his mission — greatly expanded in the past year — reflects strong interagency and international partnerships. The command also has quickly developed and deployed new technologies and tactics to protect the U.S. homeland and the nation’s North American, Caribbean, and Arctic allies and partners. “Over the last year, USNORTHCOM and NORAD have transformed the commands and how they operate, taking on critical new missions, standing up new functional units … welcoming new components, and…
Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) leaders hosted representatives from the United States Caribbean Basin Security Initiative-Technical Assistance Field Team (TAFT) for a courtesy call on March 18, 2026. Commander Dominique Rigby, base engineering officer, accompanied by members of his leadership team, oversaw the gathering, which highlighted the enduring partnership between the two entities, a collaboration that was formally established in 2013. Since then, this relationship has yielded noteworthy results for the RBDF, including: Strategic Funding: Consistent financial support for departmental growth. Technical Initiatives: Advanced engineering projects and modernized infrastructure. Capacity Building: Specialized training programs that strengthen RBDF technical proficiency. Rigby…
The United States military trained with NATO allies in two Arctic exercises in March 2026, practicing complex troop and equipment maneuvers in frigid conditions to test their capacity to defend the increasingly contested region. NATO’s Cold Response exercise, which took place in Finland, Norway and Sweden, demonstrated the ability of the U.S. Marine Corps and NATO allies to transport previously stored equipment across long distances before meeting a Spanish regiment acting as an enemy force. In Greenland and Alaska, Canadian, Danish and U.S. troops along with federal partners engaged in special forces operations and counter unmanned aerial systems (c-UAS) exercises…
Mexican federal forces captured a top leader of a deadly Ecuadorian drug trafficking gang and transferred him to Colombia, which quickly deported him to Ecuador. Ángel Esteban Aguilar Morales, an Ecuadorian national, is a boss of Los Lobos, or The Wolves, a transnational criminal organization that the United States State Department designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) in September 2025. Aguilar was wanted in Colombia and Ecuador in connection with the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023. Members of the Mexican Secretariat of the Navy (MARINA), Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), and the National Institute of…
A United States Coast Guard cutter intercepted a self-propelled semi-submersible submarine as part of a Coast Guard operation in the eastern Pacific that netted $49.3 million in cocaine, which the ship offloaded in Florida in March 2026. The Coast Guard has stepped up operations in the region to support Operation Pacific Viper. Since August, the Coast Guard has seized nearly 91,000 kilograms of cocaine and apprehended 150 suspected drug smugglers, according to an agency news release. After the submarine was spotted by a maritime patrol plane on February 24, the Coast Guard cutter Forward deployed a pursuit boat and an…
Mexican authorities have apprehended a suspected drug cartel member who played a key role in the military siege that led to the death of drug lord Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” in February 2026, the Secretariat of National Defense (DEFENSA) said March 15. Special forces Soldiers from the Mexican Army and the National Guard arrested Jose N, nicknamed “El Pepe,” who drove Oseguera’s mistress to a luxury villa in the town of Tapalpa in Jalisco to meet with him, DEFENSA said in a news release. Oseguera, who led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was killed in a raid by elite Mexican Soldiers…
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) apprehended 57 Haitian migrants in March 2026 on Little Inagua, the latest effort to deter illegal migration in the northeastern Caribbean region. Since 2021, the RBDF has interdicted 344 smuggling vessels and apprehended almost 12,000 migrants, according to the Nassau Guardian, a Bahamian newspaper. “We have issues with not only migrants entering The Bahamas but with migrants being consolidated and smuggled to our neighbors to the north,” Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe said while inspecting a newly acquired RBDF interceptor vessel a few days before the Little Inagua operation. “By this bold action,…