The first ship of this class to be used by the Navy,
Joint Venture (HSV-X1), proved her military mettle during the
2003 invasion of Iraq as a forward staging platform for
Marine Fleet Anti-Terrorism and
United States Navy SEAL teams in the shallow waters of
Umm Qasr, Iraq. The Navy hoped to build upon lessons learned from
Swift and her predecessor, and eventually use the information to create a new class of
littoral combat ships. In the autumn of 2003, while operating with the
Fifth Fleet,
Swift completed the fastest-ever transit of the northern
Great Barrier Reef from
Cairns to
Booby Island, Australia, averaging slightly over . During flight deck certifications,
Swifts crew conducted aircraft recovery while making during one recovery and had apparent winds during another recovery. The Jane's Defence Weekly story said that Marine reservists will practice with the NALMEB (Norway Air-Landed Marine Expeditionary Brigade) equipment, and the cruise would also be used to evaluate an experimental lightweight
ROWPU that was at that time being tested by the USMC warfighting laboratory. The vessel returned in early 2004. In 2004, the United States Navy tested the Australian built
Swift in the multinational exercise
RIMPAC. In January 2005,
Swift was tapped to provide logistical assistance during the
tsunami relief effort in North
Sumatra.
Swift departed
Naval Station Ingleside, Texas, on 3 January 2005.
Swift was in Pearl Harbor 15 January 2005, on the way to provide assistance following the tsunami. The ship arrived in Singapore on 30 January 2005, Belawan, Indonesia 3 February 2005 and Sattahip, Thailand, on 7 February 2005. Prior to arriving in the tsunami affected region, crews were swapped in
Pearl Harbor, with Gold crew relieving Blue crew in less than eight hours.
Swift embarked a helicopter detachment, and served as a base of operations for two helicopters and their crew for 30 consecutive days at sea. During the operation,
Swift sailed for 30 straight days, supported a helicopter detachment and support crew and conducted two underway replenishments. In 2005,
Swift played a major role in
Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. With most roads inaccessible along the
Gulf Coast,
Swift and her crew delivered the necessary supplies by water, traversing the
Mississippi River multiple times hauling humanitarian aid between
Pensacola,
Florida, and
New Orleans,
Louisiana. During the
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict,
Swift was used to transport humanitarian assistance materials from
Cyprus to
Beirut.
Swift departed
Naval Station Mayport, Florida, on 25 April 2007, to serve as a Global Fleet Station (GFS). The ship hosted more than 1,000 host nation military and civilian personnel during twelve visits to seven countries such as Belize, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Panama. In these countries, personnel on board
Swift conducted 39,890 hours of subject matter expert exchanges in such areas as leadership, small boat operations, port security and small unit tactics. The six-month U.S. Navy sponsored GFS deployment tested the Navy's GFS concept, a maritime security cooperation initiative aimed at strengthening global partnerships through training and cooperation activities.
Swift transported U.S. military training teams to conduct maritime training with regional civil and maritime services. While in port,
Swift received 140 Project Handclasp pallets and two fire engines. The
Wisconsin National Guard State Partnership Program donated the fire engines to Project Handclasp for transportation to Nicaragua, their partner nation. Project Handclasp is a U.S. Navy program that accepts and transports educational, humanitarian and goodwill material on a space-available basis aboard U.S. Navy ships for distribution to foreign nation recipients. SPS is an annual deployment of various specialty platforms to the U.S.
Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (AOR) in the Caribbean and
Latin America. The mission's primary goal is information sharing with navies, coast guards, and civilian services throughout the region. In April 2013, a TIF-25K Tethered
Aerostat (unmanned
blimp) was tested from the stern of
Swift. The aerostat could be positioned above the vessel for surveillance.
Swift was to be replaced with when that vessel came into service. Originally chartered in July 2003 as an interim mine warfare command and support ship for "transformational" mine warfare modular mission payload initiatives, the ship had been sent to the
Persian Gulf, South Africa, the
North Sea, and
Hawaii within one year. Other locations included the Gulf of Mexico, Singapore, Thailand,
Sicily, Spain, and southern
California. As mine demonstration missions wore down,
Swift was used in partnership missions, performing extended cruises to Africa, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. The five-year charter was renewed in 2008, and the ship continued to serve until the introduction of
Joint High Speed Vessels.
Swift ended her service with Military Sealift Command in 2013. == UAE flagged service ==