US Special Operations Forces Preparing For Venezuela Deployment

Or are they — along with clandestine CIA operatives — already operating there? Since the current build-up of U.S. military and naval forces in the southern Caribbean, ostensibly focused on counter-narcotics operations, began, rumors have swirled about what actions these forces might take against the cartels inside Venezuela, and the illegitimate socialist regime of Nicolás Maduro.

With the arrival of the USS Gerald Ford supercarrier and the Pentagon’s official launch of “Operation Southern Spear” against regional narco-terrorists, U.S. military capability for massive strikes has grown considerably.

Still, despite the naval armada and various bases in countries and islands nearby, the now 15,000 sailors, airmen, and Marines aren’t enough for any kind of sustained campaign on land against Venezuelan forces.

I have predicted there will be missile and drone strikes against land targets from at least one submarine, surface ships, and aircraft, as well as likely cyberattacks against command-and-control assets, but nothing that resembles an invasion on the ground.

There is, however, another likely option: gray zone operations by the CIA and special operations forces inside Venezuela, in conjunction with other strikes, or alone. And our task force there has extremely potent assets to do that.

The U.S. just designated the Cartel de los Soles, linked directly to Maduro and his cronies, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, to begin on Nov. 24. The designation allows intelligence operations that can “look very much like military action,” including capture missions or possible strikes on leadership targets, without congressional approval. (RELATED: Report: US To Designate Venezuela’s Cartel De Los Soles As Terrorist Group)

But what U.S. special operations capabilities do we have at the ready?

Well, it is a lot. Everything from CIA operators, Navy SEALS, a special operations helicopter aviation unit, a clandestine special operations mothership, and special operations capable Marines, are on station.

And they can conduct a wide range of special missions inside Venezuela and against cartel and regime targets.

President Trump earlier announced that he authorized the CIA to conduct clandestine actions inside the country. Elite operators from Ground Branch within the CIA’s Special Activities Center, previously known as Special Activities Division (SAD), are likely already there scouting targets and laying the groundwork for strikes, and possible special operations inland.

They can also conduct sabotage and targeted assassinations, on their own, with plausible deniability.

We also know that the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) has conducted training exercises off the coast of Venezuela.

Known as the Night Stalkers, their motto is: “Death Waits in the Dark.” They basically deliver special operators, including Army Green Berets, and tier one DELTA force and Navy SEALs, and extract them into impossible places — always at night.

Since it was formed in 1981, its pilots using specially modified MH-6 Little Bird and MH60 Blackhawks, have taken part in some of the most dangerous missions in recent U. S. history, including quietly ferrying SEALS into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden.

“The 160th could take special operations forces into Venezuela to strike cartel or regime targets,” noted Marc Cancian, a retired Marine Colonel now with the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) in D.C.

More recently, a C-146A Wolfhound, a specialized transport plane used by the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), was tracked near Venezuelan airspace (coming as close as 10 miles to the coast) while en route to Colombia. (RELATED: Russian Surveillance Ship Spotted Near Hawaii, US Coast Guard Responds)

While this plane had its transponder on and was using readily identifiable call signs, it was not operating clandestinely; they are used for discreet mobility, infiltration and exfiltration of special operations forces, and supporting missions in austere conditions.

In this case, we appear to be sending a message to the illegitimate drug regime of Nicolás Maduro.

The U.S. also has one significant and unique special warfare asset in the region, few people know about, a shadowy special operations ship, the M/V Ocean Trader. This vessel never transmits an AIS signal, is painted plain white, and displays no name or state flag.

The vessel has seldom been seen outside the Mediterranean or Middle East.

Formerly an automobile and freight ferry used in Europe, it was converted for special warfare use in the mid-2010s and easily blends in with other commercial shipping vessels. With the addition of a large helideck, troop accommodations, boat launch davits, and security gear, this common merchant ship-looking vessel was transformed into a forward sea base, or “mothership,” for special operations forces.

The Ocean Trader is usually escorted by a navy warship, in this case it has been seen in close proximity to a powerful, Ticonderoga-class cruiser, likely USS Lake Erie.

In addition to its helicopter pad, the vessel carries Combatant Craft-Assault boats used by Naval Special Warfare’s Special Boat Teams to insert and extract SEALs on missions. It also features upgraded communications to handle highly classified intelligence and orders.

Expect the most sensitive special ops missions to be carried out by forces from this ship.

Finally, we have the 4,500 sailors and Marines of the 22^nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) aboard the Helicopter Landing Ship USS Iwo Jima, and several other amphibious ships in the Caribbean.

This MEU is a newer version of the one I was with in the Western Pacific in the late 1980s.

The MEU-SOC is built around a reinforced infantry battalion, an aviation element equipped with long-range MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, CH-53E Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters and AH-1Z Vipers, and UH-1Y Venoms attack helicopters.

This sea-based crisis response force can conduct amphibious assaults and raids, maritime security operations, non-combatant evacuations, and limited-duration combat operations.

Some of those missions include hostile ship boarding, rapid urban, port, and airfield seizure, or high-risk raids on static or seaborne targets.

Whatever the need, the U.S. task force now in the Caribbean near Venezuela can conduct all manner of special operations missions, from raids, seizure of critical static targets, all the way to capture or kill missions against high-value targets. 

Maduro, and his drug-dealing cronies, should be afraid. Very afraid.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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