The top leader of the Navy announced Thursday that the service’s future amphibious ship, a landing helicopter assault vessel, will be named the USS Helmand Province after an intense, yearslong campaign that characterized some of the deadliest fighting during the war in Afghanistan.
Speaking at the Modern Day Marine exposition in Washington, D.C., Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro described the name for the new America-class ship as “in keeping with naval tradition of naming our Navy’s amphibious assault ships after U.S. Marine Corps battles.”
“I am honored to announce today that the future LHA-10 will be named the USS Helmand Province, recognizing the bravery and sacrifices of our Marines and our sailors who fought for almost 20 years in the mountains of Afghanistan,” Del Toro said.
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Helmand province, situated in southern Afghanistan and long considered a Taliban stronghold by the U.S.-led coalition that invaded the country following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, was the focus of a major military campaign led by roughly 10,000 British troops and 20,000 U.S. Marines from 2009 to 2014, many of whom arrived during President Barack Obama’s 2010 troop surge into the country.