<P> The ships of the Navy participated in a number of conflicts after the end of the Cold War . After diplomatic efforts failed, the Navy was instrumental in the opening phases of the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq; the ships of the navy launched hundreds of Tomahawk II cruise missiles and naval aircraft flew sorties from six carriers in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea . The battleships Missouri and Wisconsin fired their 16 - inch guns for the first time since the Korean War on several targets in Kuwait in early February . In 1999, hundreds of Navy and Marine Corps aircraft flew thousands of sorties from bases in Italy and carriers in the Adriatic against targets in Serbia and Kosovo to try to stop the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo . After a 78 - day campaign Serbia capitulated to NATO's demands . </P> <P> As a result of a large number of command officers being fired for failing to do their job properly, in 2012 the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) ordered a new method of selecting command officers across the Navy . </P> <P> In March 2007, the U.S. Navy reached its smallest fleet size, with 274 ships, since World War I. Since the end of the Cold War, the Navy has shifted its focus from preparations for large - scale war with the Soviet Union to special operations and strike missions in regional conflicts . The Navy participated in the Iraq War and is a major participant in the ongoing War on Terror, largely in this capacity . Development continues on new ships and weapons, including the Gerald R. Ford - class aircraft carrier and the Littoral combat ship . One hundred and three U.S. Navy personnel died in the Iraq War . U.S. Navy warships launched cruise missiles into military targets in Libya during Operation Odyssey Dawn to enforce a UN resolution . </P> <P> Former U.S. Navy admirals who head the U.S. Naval Institute have raised concerns about what they see as the ability to respond to "aggressive moves by Iran and China". As part of the pivot to the Pacific, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said that the Navy would switch from a 50 / 50 split between the Pacific and the Atlantic to a 60 / 40 percent split that favored the Pacific, but the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, have said that this would not mean "a big influx of troops or ships in the Western Pacific". This pivot is a continuation of the trend towards the Pacific that first saw the Cold War's focus against the Soviet Union with 60 percent of the American submarine fleet stationed in the Atlantic shift towards an even split between the coasts and then in 2006, 60 percent of the submarines stationed on the Pacific side to counter China . The pivot is not entirely about numbers as some of the most advanced platforms will now have a Pacific focus, where their capabilities are most needed . However even a single incident can make a big dent in a fleet of modest size with global missions . </P>

When was the last time the navy went to war