USS Anzio (CG-68)

On 6 April 2000, Anzio, along with another cruiser and the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, was participating in an exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, about 250 miles (400 km) off the coast of Israel. In an unannounced missile test, the Israel Defense Forces fired a Jericho-1 medium-range ballistic missile from a test facility in Yavne, which landed 40 miles (64 km) from the ship. The missile was detected by the ship's radar, and the crew briefly thought that they were under attack.[1][2]

On 9 January 2003, Anzio was pre-deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Ordered first to the eastern Mediterranean Sea for the initial phase of President George W. Bush's Shock and Awe strategy (during which the U.S. Navy deployed to defeat the Iraq military before ground forces were sent in). Once Anzio completed her mission in the eastern Mediterranean, she forward-deployed to the Persian Gulf. Once Anzio arrived in the Persian Gulf, she had marked her 45th straight day at sea. In the Persian Gulf, Anzio continued carrier-flight support operations and coastal surveillance. After President Bush announced major combat had concluded in the Iraq War, on 1 May 2003, Anzio was relieved of her duties, returning home on 3 July 2003, after 175 days at sea. In March 2003, she was assigned to Cruiser-Destroyer Group Eight.[3]

In 2004, Anzio participated at the annual Fleet Week in New York City. In January 2007, the warship was sent to the coast of Somalia to conduct anti-terrorist operations as part of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower task force.

While in the Arabian Sea on 22 November 2006 - the Japanese fast combat support ship Mashu (left) conducts a replenishment at sea with USS Anzio

On 16 February 2007, Anzio was awarded the 2006 Battle "E" award.[4]

Anzio was anchored and a participant for 'Windjammer Days' in Boothbay Harbor, Maine from 25 to 26 June 2008.

Anzio has served as the flagship of the Horn of Africa international anti-piracy Combined Task Force 151.[5] On 15 October 2009 a team from the cruiser working with United States Coast Guard personnel from Maritime Safety and Security Team 91104 seized a skiff carrying an estimated 4 tons of hashish worth an estimated $28 million about 170 nautical miles (310 km) southwest of Salalah, Oman.[6][7] The boarding team destroyed the drugs by dumping them into the ocean and released the skiff's crew.[8]

Anzio embarked Detachment 2 of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 46 (HSM-46) for operations in 2012.

Anzio was tentatively scheduled to be decommissioned and designated for disposal on 31 March 2013.[9] However, Anzio was retained under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013.[10][11]

On 13 January 2016, ten U.S. Navy sailors were picked up by Anzio for transport and medical evaluations after being held in Iranian custody. The sailors were captured by Iran on 12 January 2016 after their two naval boats entered Iranian waters. "The evidence suggests that they unintentionally entered the Iranian waters because of the failure of their navigational system," Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman Ramazan Sharif said on Press TV.[12] Anzio was also involved in a replenishment at sea operation with HMS Defender, USS Harry S. Truman, USS Ramage, USNS Pecos, and USNS Medgar Evers.[13]