18 August 1977 Observation Island was transferred to the Military Sealift Command at the request of the United States Air Force for use as a tracking ship designated USNS Observation Island (T-AGM 23).
The ship underwent a number of modifications including the installation of the AN/SPQ-11 Cobra Judy passive electronically scanned array radar which was used for verification of strategic arms treaties.
In the 31 years that followed, the ship averaged 260 days a year at sea in support of this monitoring mission.

In 2008, the USNS Observation Island was part of Operation Burnt Frost, the U.S. government program that used a RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 anti-ballistic missile to shoot down the satellite, USA-193.
18 August 1977 Observation Island was transferred to the Military Sealift Command at the request of the United States Air Force for use as a tracking ship designated USNS Observation Island (T-AGM 23). The ship underwent a number of modifications including the installation of the AN/SPQ-11 Cobra Judy passive electronically scanned array radar which was used for verification of strategic arms treaties. In the 31 years that followed, the ship averaged 260 days a year at sea in support of this monitoring mission.
In 2008, the USNS Observation Island was part of Operation Burnt Frost, the U.S. government program that used a RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 anti-ballistic missile to shoot down the satellite, USA-193.
USNS Observation Island (T-AGM-23)