The U.S. Army's 448th Engineer Battalion completed clearing miles of vegetation at the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station near José Aponte de la Torre Airport in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, by December 27, 2025, transforming the site to host hundreds of personnel and dozens of daily military flights, according to an X post by SA_Defensa during the reporting window ending at 9:15 PM UTC. Comparison photographs posted by SA_Defensa show the cleared area before on December 2 and after on December 27, quoting the battalion's completion of major clearing efforts at the base. This development occurs amid a U.S. military buildup in Puerto Rico, including the deployment of 10 CV-22B Ospreys from Cannon Air Force Base to Rafael Hernández Airport in Aguadilla earlier on December 27, as reported by the Wall Street Journal and cited by SA_Defensa in prior updates. Related activity features a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone parked at Aguadilla Airport, confirmed by a Reuters photograph dated December 26 and shared on X during previous reporting periods, alongside Caribbean maritime notices warning of hazardous operations north of Venezuela on December 27-28, requiring civilian diversions, as posted by FaytuksNetwork.
