Laid down on 29 June 1998 and launched on 7 August 1999, Red Cloud was put into service on 18 January 2000.

[3] In 2003 Red Cloud was deployed to transport U.S. Army vehicles to Kuwait to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On 12 August 2015, an Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed on the deck of the Red Cloud when demonstrating capabilities to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

The Red Cloud was operating approximately eight miles east of Ukibaru Island.

Of the seventeen service members on board the helicopter, seven suffered non-life-threatening injuries.