March 16, 1984, HALSEY departed for the WESTPAC that every sailor dreams about, but few have the financial resources for. Between HALSEY's departure and her return from deployment on October 2, 1984. HALSEY hit 17 ports. Her longest unbroken underway period for this cruise was a mere 20 days.
HALSEY spent the next 26 months close to home. During that time, Captain Dennis R. Conley became HALSEY's new Commanding Officer, relieving Captain Paul D. Moses in a ceremony held on August 29, 1985.
On the 5th of January 1987, Captain Conley led HALSEY out past Point Loma for the last time for the next six months as HALSEY joined up with the USS KITTY HAWK and ten other ships, to form Battle Group Bravo. The whole battle group then proceeded west and maintained that general direction, circumnavigating the world. During that deployment, Battle Group Bravo stayed on station off the coast of Iran before continuing on into the Mediterranean Sea. In the Med, the USS NIMITZ (CVN-68) and her escorts joined Battle Group Bravo and HALSEY escorted NIMITZ into San Diego at the end of the world cruise. Because of her superior performance on the deployment, HALSEY was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation.
Eight days after the start of 1988, Captain Conley was relieved as Commanding Officer by Captain Robert D. Pacek. Captain Pacek became HALSEY's fourteenth Commanding Officer.
February of 1988 saw HALSEY receiving her sixth Battle "E" award, as well as her 13th consecutive Engineering "E", 12th consecutive ASW "A" and 14th consecutive Missile "E" awards, signifying sustained superior performance in those areas.
Scarcely ten months after returning home from her world cruise, HALSEY saw herself underway for her 12th major deployment, this time to the Arabian (Persian) Gulf, led by Captain Pacek, a veteran of the Gulf. HALSEY's outstanding abilities in sorting out the potentially hostile air threats in the Gulf's busy airspace, earned her a superb reputation in the field of AAW and her ability to steam long periods of time with little or no outside help, proved that her Engineering department could always be counted on. Because of her proven capabilities, HALSEY was moved to the southern part of the Persian Gulf, which contained the heaviest air travel, when the USS VINCENNES (CG-49) had to leave the Gulf.
On the 20th of July, while on station in the Persian Gulf, HALSEY marked 25 years of service to her country the way she had spent most of her career in the fleet, actively furthering the goals of her country and helping to maintain freedom of the seas.
HALSEY returned to San Diego on October 21, 1988 and after a short stand down, began preparations for an extensive overhaul at Continental Maritime in San Diego, where she was to receive the New Threat Upgrade to her weapon systems, greatly enhancing her AAW capabilities, putting her, along with her sister ships, several steps ahead of other classes of ships in that field.
HALSEY finished the 18 month yard period in late 1990 and immediately commenced sea trials in January of 1991, where she performed superbly.