U.S. Marines Train Trinidad and Tobago Forces for Night and Coastal Ops near Venezuela.

The United States Marine Corps 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit is conducting joint exercises with the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force from 16 to 21 November, following a U.S. Embassy announcement in Port of Spain. The training, held just off Venezuela’s coast amid the Essequibo dispute and growing U.S. security support to Guyana, turns a routine partnership event into a clear regional signal.

The U.S. Embassy in Port of Spain has confirmed that Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, deployed under U.S. Southern Command, are training with the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force across the twin-island state from 16 to 21 November. Embassy officials frame the event as standard military-to-military cooperation and continuation of previous engagements, but the timing and geography are hard to ignore: a composite Marine Air Ground Task Force operating only a few nautical miles from Venezuelan shores, at a moment when Caracas denounces U.S. drills in the Caribbean as “provocative” and presses territorial claims against Guyana over the Essequibo region.
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The aviation element of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) is a central feature of the training. MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft provide long-range tactical lift, with speeds above 300 knots, an endurance of more than 1,000 nautical miles and capacity for roughly twenty troops or about 9 tons of cargo. (Picture source: US DoD)

The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) is built on the standard Marine Air-Ground Task Force format, with around 2,200 Marines and Sailors divided among ground, aviation, logistics, and command elements. This structure enables autonomous operations of roughly thirty days, ranging from humanitarian assistance to limited high-intensity combat.

For Trinidad and Tobago, the arrival of this expeditionary force is part of a deliberate long-term trajectory of closer alignment with United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) to secure its maritime approaches, counter illicit trafficking, and structure planning procedures. For Caracas, by contrast, repeated United States deployments in the immediate vicinity of the Orinoco Delta and Guyana’s offshore fields are perceived as a form of pressure at a time when the Essequibo question weighs on regional military and diplomatic choices.

The aviation element of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) is a central feature of the training. MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft provide long-range tactical lift, with speeds above 300 knots, an endurance of more than 1,000 nautical miles, and capacity for roughly twenty troops or about 9 tons of cargo. This combination of vertical take-off and fixed-wing cruise provides flexibility for over-water insertions and rapid links between dispersed training locations across the archipelago.

AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters deliver controlled fire support with a 20 mm cannon, AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, and 70 mm rockets, guided by an optronic sighting system able to detect and designate targets at long range by day and by night. The UH-1Y Venom completes the package with a four-blade composite rotor, a fully digital cockpit, and the ability to conduct command, light transport, armed-escort, and medical-evacuation missions, including in poor weather.

On the ground, these air assets support a mix of infantry companies, logistics-support elements, and signal specialists working with TTDF units. The scenarios cover a broad spectrum, from helicopter insertions in coastal areas to the securing of urban districts and movements across more rugged interior terrain. The forces conduct convoy drills, medical-evacuation rehearsals, cordon-and-search activities, and presence patrols in dense environments that mirror the conditions faced by the TTDF in day-to-day operations against organised crime and smuggling networks. At the same time, geography constantly underlines that these activities take place at a short distance from Venezuelan beaches, along sea lanes that Caracas regards as central to its strategic depth.

At the tactical and operational level, local and regional dimensions intersect. Night flights by MV-22B and UH-1Y aircraft into narrow landing zones require careful work on approach profiles, light discipline, noise management and electromagnetic emissions, in line with electromagnetic-control (EMCON) requirements. The AH-1Z Viper, employed in close air support or surveillance roles, contributes to building a recognised maritime picture and a shared operational picture (RMP/COP) over the archipelago by fusing its sensor data with Trinidadian coastal-surveillance systems and reports from ground units. TTDF joint terminal attack controllers and United States fire-support teams use the opportunity to align call-for-fire procedures, phraseology, and coordination methods, which directly conditions future combined operations, whether related to internal security, maritime interdiction, or disaster relief.

In the present Caribbean context, the location of the exercise close to Venezuela gives it the character of a strategic signal. Since 2023, Caracas has multiplied assertive moves on the Essequibo issue, including controversial votes in the disputed area and the deployment of state vessels into waters that Guyana and its partners regard as their sovereign domain. In parallel, the United States has strengthened security assurances to Georgetown and increased its naval and air activities in the Caribbean, which the Maduro government portrays as a threat to regional stability. Against this background, one week of training from 16 to 21 November does not alter the balance of power on its own, but it confirms that Washington intends to keep expeditionary forces in a rapid-reaction posture at the entrance to the Gulf of Paria and near Caribbean energy routes, while Port of Spain positions itself as a key partner in managing the grey zone between maritime law enforcement, internal security and conventional defence.