USS Cleveland (LPD-7) - 1990s

1990s

The ship's next two deployments, in 1990 and 1991, were in support of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. In October 1992 and in March 1993, Cleveland deployed on short notice to Central America in support of law enforcement operations, where she was the first LPD to embark an SH-60 Seahawk helicopter. During the March 1993 deployment Cleveland and the embarked Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) played a key role in what was the largest maritime cocaine seizure to date involving the motor vessel Sea Chariot. These two deployments included four transits of the Panama Canal and steaming over 20,000 miles.

While deployed to the Western Pacific in 1994, Cleveland participated in United Nations relief efforts in Rwanda and the relocation of the United States Liaison office from Mogadishu, Somalia, to Nairobi, Kenya. Following the relocation efforts, Cleveland was ordered to steam into the North Persian Gulf to assist in deterring Iraq's massing of troops on the Kuwaiti border as part of Operation Vigilant Warrior.

Her next inter-deployment cycle was highlighted by Exercise "RIMPAC '96" off the coast of Hawaii, which included the first ever multilateral exercise involving US and Russian forces in US waters. The trip to Hawaii for the exercise culminated in a parade of ships for the 50th anniversary celebration to commemorate the end of the Pacific War. Cleveland returned to the North Persian Gulf during her deployment in 1996 and 1997, participating in coalition and bilateral exercises and achieving yet another milestone as the first Amphibious Warship to actively participate in Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO) in support of United Nations sanctions against Iraq.

In the summer of 1998, Cleveland once again participated in the bi-annual RIMPAC exercise. Cleveland then began her sixteenth major deployment in December 1998, embarking Navy SEALs, elements of the 13th MEU(SOC) – Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operation Capable) – and a detachment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). During this deployment Cleveland stood off the Horn of Africa, inserting a military liaison team into Eritrea and remaining ready to conduct a non-combatant evacuation operation. Cleveland then returned to the Persian Gulf to conduct MIO where she served as flagship for the commander of all MIO forces in the Persian Gulf. During this period, an embarked UAV discovered an Iraqi surface-to-surface missile site that was threatening coalition forces. Aircraft from USS Enterprise (CVN-65) destroyed this missile site while the UAV transmitted live imagery back to Cleveland.