2010s
On 2 March 2011, Ponce, along with Kearsarge, traveled through the Suez Canal in response to the 2011 Libyan civil war.
Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet (C6F) relieved the commanding officer and executive officer of Ponce on 23 April 2011. As a result of a hazing inquiry, Vice Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., relieved Cmdr. Etta Jones, Ponce's commanding officer, due to demonstrated poor leadership, and failure to appropriately investigate, report, and hold accountable sailors found involved in hazing incidents. Additionally, she failed to properly handle a loaded weapon during a security alert which endangered some of her ship's crew. The relief of the executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Kurt Boenisch, was attributed to failure to provide support to the command and to his commanding officer.
On 26 October 2011, Ponce began a three week tour which would take her to Port Canaveral, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and her namesake city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Upon her return to Norfolk, in December 2011, she was to begin the process of decommissioning.
On 2 December 2011, Ponce came home to await decommissioning on 30 March 2012, when she would be towed to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Naval Shipyard and be placed with the mothball fleet, likely to await being sold for scrap in consideration of her age and accumulation of rust; however a contract was let for a rush retrofit for the ship to be re-deployed as the first of a planned series of mine-countermeasures warships for use in keeping open strategic sea lanes.
On 17 April 2012, Ponce received a new commanding officer when Capt. Jon P. Rodgers relieved Cmdr. Cole Hayes.
On 1 June 2012, Ponce deployed to the Fifth Fleet area in the Middle East.
It was reported on 22 June 2012 that Ponce was passing through the Suez Canal on her way to Bahrain. She arrived in Bahrain on 5 July.
Ponce participated in International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 2012 (IMCMEX 2012) between 16 and 27 September 2012, demonstrating the capabilities her "stop-gap" role was intended to fill.
On 29 October 2012, Ponce rescued seven Bahraini fishermen whose vessel was foundering in a hailstorm.
Read more about this topic: USS Ponce (LPD-15)