Search the Site with

General Characteristics

Crew List

Memorabilia

History

Image Gallery

to end of page

USNS Choctaw County (T-EPF 2)

USNS CHOCTAW COUNTY was the second ship in the SPEARHEAD - class of Expeditionary Fast Transports and the first ship in the Navy named after the three counties in Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma which were all named for the Choctaw tribe. On July 7, 2025, she was deactivated and stricken from the Navy list after only 12 years of service. In September 2025, CHOCTAW COUNTY was towed to Brownsville, Tx., for scrapping.

back to top

go to the end of the page

back to top

go to the end of the page

Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USNS CHOCTAW COUNTY. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

• Click here to view the list.

back to top

go to the end of the page

• Click here to see which USNS CHOCTAW COUNTY memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

back to top

go to the end of the page

USNS CHOCTAW COUNTY History:

USNS CHOCTAW COUNTY was built by Austal USA at Mobile, Alabama. The ship was laid down on November 8, 2011, christened on September 15, 2012, launched on October 1, 2012, completed acceptance trials on May 3, 2013, and entered Military Sealift Command service on June 6, 2013. The class designation shifted from JHSV to EPF in 2015, aligning the program under Navy expeditionary lift.

Through 2013-2014, CHOCTAW COUNTY executed shakedown and fleet-introduction events in the Gulf of Mexico and along the U.S. East Coast, proving the type's high-speed intra-theater lift: quick stern-ramp embarkation, flight-deck operations, and shallow-draft access to austere or commercial piers. In November 2014, the ship supported the large amphibious/expeditionary exercise BOLD ALLIGATOR off North Carolina, a Navy–Marine Corps venue used to refine rapid movement of personnel and equipment from sea to shore.

In 2015, the vessel underwent scheduled MSC sustainment at Detyens Shipyards and began recurring employment in Western Hemisphere engagement missions, reflecting how EPFs were used for flexible partner-nation logistics and training alongside traditional sealift.

In early 2016, CHOCTAW COUNTY became the first EPF forward-deployed to the U.S. Fifth Fleet region, transiting the Suez Canal by February 3, 2016. That spring, she supported the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise around Bahrain while also serving as a fast, shallow-draft support node as the Navy introduced the Mark VI patrol boats in theater - an early expression of the EPF's value as a mobile platform for small-craft, MCM, and coastal security concepts in constrained waters.

Across 2017-2018, the ship's pattern in Fifth Fleet combined logistics shuttle runs, partner-navy events, and experimentation with expeditionary command-and-control afloat. This sustained tempo emphasized maritime domain awareness and infrastructure defense in the northern Arabian Gulf and adjacent seas, where shallow-draft access and speed mattered more than combatant armament.

In 2019, CHOCTAW COUNTY completed repair/overhaul and dry-docking at Duqm Naval Dockyard, Oman, a growing regional hub that allowed heavy maintenance without returning to the continental United States. This positioned the ship for continued employment in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman.

During 2020-2021, the ship remained aligned to CENTCOM/ Fifth Fleet tasking. In September 2021, she berthed in Beirut, Lebanon, to support Central Partnership Station, the first iteration of that NAVCENT-led engagement in the Levant. The stop featured subject-matter exchanges with the Lebanese Armed Forces and demonstrations of rapid intra-theater mobility.

By 2022, MSC public materials still described CHOCTAW COUNTY as "hubbed out of Bahrain", supporting Central Partnership Station, regional exercises, and maintenance support tasks - evidence that the ship continued routine operations in Fifth Fleet through at least mid-2022.

Photography places CHOCTAW COUNTY in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, on March 23, 2023, arriving from Malaga - consistent with a repositioning transit from the Mediterranean toward the U.S. East Coast. By May 26, 2023, imagery shows the ship moored at the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, the Navy's inactive-ships site and a common layberth for vessels not in full operational use. MSC's official "2023 In Review" then explicitly lists USNS CHOCTAW COUNTY as in Reduced Operating Status (ROS) with a layberth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Together, these data points tightly bracket the transition: CHOCTAW COUNTY entered ROS no later than May 26, 2023, and was formally carried in ROS in MSC reporting for 2023 (the likely move into ROS occurred between late March and late May 2023, as she shifted from European waters to Philadelphia for layberth).

Procurement records show MSC contracting to remove, crate, and stow the Marine Evacuation System and life rafts for SPEARHEAD (T-EPF 1) and CHOCTAW COUNTY at Philadelphia with a period of performance March 11-29, 2024 - work typical of long-term warm layup and a further indicator that the ship remained in ROS at Philadelphia throughout 2024.

The Navy struck CHOCTAW COUNTY from the Naval Vessel Register on July 7, 2025. In early September 2025, multiple observers recorded the ex-CHOCTAW COUNTY under tow down the Delaware River, inbound to Norfolk and onward to Brownsville, Texas, for scrapping - marking the end of approximately twelve years of service that spanned concept validation, sustained Fifth Fleet expeditionary employment, and partner-capacity missions in the Mediterranean and Levant.

back to top

go to the end of the page

USNS CHOCTAW COUNTY Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CHOCTAW COUNTY at the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on May 26, 2023.

back to top

Back to Expeditionary Fast Transport list.

Back to ships list.

Back to selection page.

Back to 1^st page.