The USS Mesa Verde has steamed into the Persian Gulf as concern grows over a militant group’s advancement toward Iraq’s capital, the Associated Press reported Monday.

The ship, an amphibious transport dock, is named for the national park west of Durango. It was commissioned in 2007 to mark the park’s 100th anniversary, which was in 2006.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said the Mesa Verde has already moved into the Gulf, joining the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush and other U.S. naval ships.

Kirby said the ships’ presence will give President Barack Obama “additional options to protect American citizens and interests in Iraq.”

The Pentagon says the Mesa Verde carries Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft that can be used for crisis response. The same type of aircraft periodically flies over Durango.

The State Department is reinforcing security at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and evacuating some personnel. The militant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, has taken over several cities in northern Iraq.

cslothower@durangoherald.com