USS Curts (FFG-38) - 1990s

1990s

Upon return from combat operations in June 1991, the ship became an important part of Operation Fiery Vigil rescuing numerous refugees to safety when mount Pinatubo erupted near Subic Bay, Republic of The Philippines,

In 1993, Curts was upgraded with the 4100-ton class modification, extending her stern another eight feet and enhancing her combat capabilities. Curts joined independence battle group to participate with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force in joint anti-submarine warfare exercise MAREX and later that year the ship deployed to the Persian Gulf conducting 89 boardings of merchant vessels in the Red Sea as part of United Nations sanctions enforcement against Iraq. Curts material and operational readiness was rewarded with the battle efficiency award for 1994.

In 1995, Curts participated in major joint exercises with units of the U.S. Navy and Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), and later with the navies of Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand for 1996 cooperation afloat for readiness and training (CARAT 96).

In 1997, after nine years of forward presence as part of seventh fleet, Curts departed Yokosuka, Japan for a homeport change to San Diego, California and in October 1998 Curts joined the Naval Reserve Force (NRF).

In 1998, Curts deployed to the multi-lateral exercise Teamwork South, where she participated in exercises with navies from the United Kingdom, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile. Upon completion of Teamwork South, Curts steamed to Hawaii to participate in multi-lateral exercise RIMPAC 98. Curts made national headlines when a Salinas Ecuador hotel security guard died from injuries he received during a scuffle with a LTJG (pilot) and Senior Chief Petty Officer assigned to HSL-43 embarked on Curts for the deployment. Both men were removed from the ship and returned to the U.S. to face a court martial.

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 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 was towed through just before Curts transit) and the first to transit it under Panamanian control in 2000.