The USS Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, which appeared headed for the U.S.-Iran conflict in the Persian Gulf when it rapidly left San Diego in March, is now on routine patrol in the southern Philippines region thousands of miles away, according to the Navy.
The information appears next to an April 26 Navy photo that shows Boxer transiting the Surigao Straight, roughly 4,000 nautical miles from the Strait of Hormuz. The cutline says the three-ship task force is working with its allies “to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
The ready group had been expected to reach the Persian Gulf around the second week of April, carrying upwards of 2,200 Marines from Camp Pendleton’s 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. President Donald Trump dispatched the group to the region to supplement U.S. forces and possibly to participate in a land war against Iran.
The administration has not said whether the current ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran led Trump to order the Boxer group to stay clear of the Persian Gulf.