USS Oak Hill (LSD-51) is a of the United States Navy. She is named in honor of Oak Hill, the residence of James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States. The Monroe Doctrine was penned at Oak Hill, and subsequently delivered at an 1823 Congressional address which asserted that the Western Hemisphere was never to be colonized again. This doctrine is the inspiration for the Ship's Motto: Nations' Protector. Oak Hill is the second ship to honor the residence. Oak Hill is currently homeported at Little Creek Amphibious Base, Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is assigned to Amphibious Squadron 8. Operational history Oak Hill was commissioned on 8 June 1996 and shortly after commissioning, Oak Hill served as command and control ship for the recovery of TWA Flight 800 wreckage. Her maiden deployment came shortly thereafter (October 1996 to April 1997) and was scheduled to be a cruise to the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea for a series of exercises, foreign engagements, and port visits. However, near the end of the deployment, the ship was sortied from Alicante, Spain to join the Atlantic and Pacific Amphibious Task Forces into a single force to head to the Northern Arabian Sea and put pressure on the regime in Iraq to cooperate with UN inspectors. After spending time in 5th fleet, "Oak Hill" headed home in the spring of 1998. Ports visited in her maiden deployment were: Rota, Spain, Operation Bright Star (Egypt), Constanta, Romania, Thesaloniki, Greece, Haifa, Israel, Civitavechia, Italy, Cartegena, Spain, Alicante, Spain, Kuwait City, and Bahrain. "Oak Hill" participated in Fleet Week in New York City over Memorial Day 1997. From February to July 2000 the ship deployed with the Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG) in the Mediterranean Sea in support of the military exercises Dynamic Mix and Noble Shirley. In May 2001 the ship was opened to public tours for Fleet Week at Port Everglades, Florida. From February to August 2002 Oak Hill was sent with the Wasp ARG and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. From January to March 2005 the vessel was sent to the Caribbean Sea as part of the Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) in support of a New Horizons humanitarian assistance to Haiti. From January to May 2006, Oak Hill sailed with the destroyer and the cruiser to the Persian Gulf in support of the Global