1970s
Barney completed repairs in June 1970. After post-repair trials, she departed Norfolk on 7 July for refresher training in the West Indies. That assignment lasted until September when she began missile exercises. Those, however, were cut short by an urgent need for her presence in the eastern Mediterranean in response to the Jordanian crisis that resulted when open fighting erupted between the Jordanian Army and PLO guerillas. Barney departed Norfolk on 23 September and arrived on station with Task Group (TG) 60.1 on 7 October. Built around carrier John F. Kennedy, TG 60.1—with Barney in the screen—cruised the eastern Mediterranean until the crisis abated early in November. The guided missile destroyer operated with the 6th Fleet for about another month during which time she visited Spanish, Italian, and Maltese ports. On 8 December 1970, she departed Rota, Spain, to return to the United States. She tied up at Norfolk on the 15th and began post deployment and holiday standdown.
Resuming normal operations at and out of Norfolk on 15 January 1971, she underwent various efficiency inspections and got underway frequently for multiship exercises, type training, and single ship drills. She remained so occupied through the summer and into the fall. In October, Barney began preparations for another tour of duty with the 6th Fleet. On 1 December, the warship stood out of Norfolk wearing the pennant of the Commander, Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 2. She joined the 6th Fleet at Rota on the 9th and, for the next six months, cruised in the Mediterranean in company with other ships of the 6th Fleet, most frequently in a task group built around John F. Kennedy. The guided missile destroyer visited ports on the European, African, and Middle Eastern shores of the "middle sea." She frequently engaged in intelligence surveillance missions directed at Soviet ships in the area. She also participated in at least one bilateral exercise—with HMS Juno of the Royal Navy—as well as in a number of unilateral exercises with other units of the 6th Fleet. On 22 June, she departed the Mediterranean to return home. Barney arrived back in Norfolk on 29 June 1972. After the normal leave and upkeep period, she resumed operations out of Norfolk. Those evolutions continued until 8 November when work began to convert her main propulsion plant to the use of Navy distillate fuel.
Barney's fuel conversion lasted until early in the spring of 1973. On 23 April, she got underway from Norfolk for refresher training in the West Indies. The warship returned to Norfolk on 19 May and remained there until 25 June when she got underway to join NATO's Standing Naval Force, Atlantic. Barney arrived in Plymouth, England, on 6 July and operated with the NATO force in European waters for the next five months. During that period, she participated in three multinational maneuvers. One took her into the Baltic where she shadowed Soviet bloc warships. Another saw her cross the Arctic Circle, while the third took place in the North Sea. On 5 December, Barney headed back to the United States. She arrived in Norfolk on 17 December 1973 and began the usual post deployment standdown period. She remained at Norfolk through the end of the year and for the first three months of 1974. On 4 April, she made the short, round trip to Yorktown and back to unload ammunition in preparation for regular overhaul. She stood out of Norfolk on 10 April and arrived at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard the next day.
Barney completed her overhaul on 24 February 1975 and arrived back in Norfolk the 26th. She spent the rest of the year operating out of Norfolk, first engaged in post-overhaul refresher training and qualifications and, later, conducting normal Atlantic Fleet operations. That employment carried her into 1976. On 7 July 1976, the guided missile destroyer departed Norfolk bound for the Mediterranean. She reached Rota on 17 July and relieved USS Sellers (DDG-11). For the next six months, she cruised the "middle sea" making port visits and conducting exercises with other units of the 6th Fleet and with elements of allied navies. On 28 January 1977, Barney departed Leixoes, Portugal, to return to the United States. She tied up at Norfolk on 7 February and, after two weeks of leave and upkeep, went into the drydock at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for repairs to her sonar dome. The guided missile destroyer completed repairs on 14 April and, after sea trials, resumed normal operations out of Norfolk a week later. Training evolutions and inspections occupied her for the remainder of the year and for the first 10 weeks of 1978.
On 16 March 1978, Barney departed Norfolk on her way back to the Mediterranean. After stops at Bermuda and at Ponta Delgada in the Azores, she arrived in Rota on the 27th and joined the 6th Fleet. However, Barney remained in the "middle sea" only briefly. On 6 April, she transited the Suez Canal and became a unit of the Middle East Force. The warship conducted exercises and made port visits at various East African and Persian Gulf ports over the next four months. She also collected intelligence on Soviet ships operating in the vicinity. On 12 August, she retransited the Suez Canal and briefly rejoined the 6th Fleet. After a stop at Rota on 21 and 22 August, she headed back to the United States and reached Norfolk on 1 September. After three weeks of post deployment leave and upkeep, the guided missile destroyer entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 29 September for a regular overhaul.
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