Storyline: A U.S. navy officer confirmed on Thursday that within the past 24 hours, the country's missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner had arrived in the Southern Command, or waters near Latin America, joining the warship deployment by the command. According to a Navy release, Thomas Hudner departed Monday from Mayport, Fla., for a scheduled deployment. This was the second trip this year to the Southern Command for Thomas Hudner, which has been independently deploying since returning in Jan 2024 from an eight-month deployment as part of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group. Its previous deployment to the Southern Command was in February this year. According to a Dominican media outlet, several US military aircraft are expected to arrive in the Dominican Republic in the coming days. The United States claimed the move aims to support its anti-drug operations, but some analysts said the U.S. is using the Dominican Republic as a regional hub for continuously strengthening its military presence in the Caribbean region. On Nov 26, Dominican President Luis Abinader said his country will allow the United States to use restricted areas of the San Isidro Air Base and Las Americas International Airport to combat drug trafficking. Abinader announced the measure after a meeting with visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the same day. The U.S. will deploy aircraft in the Dominican Republic for "Operation Southern Spear." On Nov 13, Hegseth announced a counternarcotics military operation called "Southern Spear" in the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean has reached its largest scale in more than three decades. Shotlist: Beijing, China - Dec 6, 2025: 1. Screenshot of report from U.S. Naval Institute Beijing, China - Dec 6, 2025: 2. Screenshot of report from Dominican Today FILE: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - May 2, 2018: 3. National flag of Dominican Republic FILE: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic - Date Unknown: 4. Holiday village 5. Various of seaside FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Date Unknown: 6. Exterior of Pentagon; traffic on road FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Date Unknown: 7. Various of White House FILE: Caracas, Venezuela - Date Unknown: 8. Various of national flags of Venezuela 9. Various of traffic [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]