Troops Tied to Trump’s Caribbean Drug-Interdiction Surge to be Housed at St. Croix “Man Camp”

U.S. military personnel assigned to President Donald Trump’s stepped-up drug-interdiction mission in the Caribbean are set to use the PHRT Village—better known locally as the “Man Camp”—as housing on St. Croix, according to people with knowledge of the arrangements. The stateside call that kicked off the local preparations came from the U.S. Air Force a few weeks ago, the sources said, and the St. Croix lodging request is part of a broader push to tighten maritime interdictions across the region.

Behind the scenes, planners described a joint footprint that includes Marines, Navy and Air Force elements. Surface vessels will handle maritime stops while surveillance aircraft circle and direct intercepts at sea. The deployment envisions about 4,500 troops spread around the Caribbean, with a U.S. submarine operating near Trinidad and Tobago, which is very close to Venezuela. Additional staging is likely in Puerto Rico, bringing to bear a regional show-of-force posture to pressure Venezuela.

Last week, Governor Albert Bryan Jr. voiced support for the deployment of American naval vessels to the southern Caribbean, an operation aimed at curbing the flow of narcotics from South America, particularly Venezuela. “If we could stop this flow of drugs to our shores, why wouldn't we be for that?” he said. Bryan explained that heightened law enforcement along the U.S. southern border has forced traffickers to rely more heavily on Caribbean routes. “Along with the cocaine comes a lot of bad actors, murder and a lot of things we don't want,” he noted. “So I am for it.”

Acknowledging that some may have concerns about the president’s broader use of military forces, Bryan pointed out that Virgin Islands leaders have long sought federal assistance with drug interdiction. “Every single year we go to D.C., we beg for more Border Patrol, we beg for more Coast Guard, we beg for more ICE agents, because we are a very porous border,” he said. Beyond security benefits, Bryan added that the increased military presence would also bring economic activity to the territory. “I understand we have some soldiers staying here in St. Croix as well too,” he said. “I am for it…. If you want to put two or three hundred soldiers here in St. Croix as part of that initiative, they gotta eat, drink and make merriment in our community. We are happy to have them.”