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In 1988, ''Curts'' received the armed forces expeditionary medal for serving with the {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|6}} battle group during [[Operation Earnest Will]] in the north [[Arabian Sea]] and the [[Gulf of Oman]]. Additionally, ''Curts'' changed homeport to [[Yokosuka, Japan]], becoming one of the first two guided-missile frigates to join the Forward Deployed Naval Force (FDNF). ''Curts'' was first to bring the LAMPS MK III helicopters to [[Naval Air Facility Atsugi]].
===Operation Desert Storm===
On 24 January 1991, during [[Operation Desert Storm]], the ship and her embarked navy and army helicopters captured an Iraqi garrison on [[Qaruh Island]] in the northern [[Persian Gulf]], taking the island and custody of 51 Iraqi prisoners. ''Curts'' destroyed two mines, sank an Iraqi minelayer and provided support to combat helicopter operations during the battle of [[Bubiyan Island]]. The ship received the navy unit commendation for her exceptional operational performance.
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In 1999, ''Curts'' deployed to counter-narco-terrorism deployment under the direction of Joint Inter-agency Task Force East (now named Joint Interagency Task Force South). In addition to seizing approximately 5 metric tons of cocaine, ''Curts'' conducted rare bi-lateral counter-narcotics exercises with the Colombian Navy. After departing a short visit to [[Aruba]] ''Curts'' responded to a distress call from M/V ''Olga'', north of the [[Guajira Peninsula]]. ''Curts'' crew were awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal for joint rescue efforts that saved the lives of several ''Olga'' crew members. The half-way point of this deployment found ''Curts'' celebrating Halloween in [[Key West]], Christmas in [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]] and New Years again in Key West, Florida. The timing of this deployment also caused ''Curts'' to be the last U.S. warship to transit the [[Panama Canal]] under U.S. control in 1999 (ex-{{USS|New Jersey|BB-62|6}} was towed through just before ''Curts'' transit) and the first to transit it under Panamanian control in 2000.
===2000s===
During [[Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training|CARAT]] cruises in 2001 and 2003, ''Curts'' conducted multilateral exercises with the navies of Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, and the Philippines to continue promoting international training and cooperation.
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