Ordered from Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, San Pedro, California on 27 April 1979 as part of the FY79 program, Curts was laid down on 1 July 1981, launched on 6 March 1982, and commissioned on 8 October 1983.

In 1988, Curts received the armed forces expeditionary medal for serving with the USS Missouri 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 destroyed two mines, sank an Iraqi minelayer and provided support to combat helicopter operations during the battle of Bubiyan Island.

Curts joined the Independence Battle Group in 1993 to participate with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force in joint anti-submarine warfare exercise MAREX.

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.

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.

During 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.

In March USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group (CSG-9) departed for deployment to the 5th Fleet area of operations (Persian Gulf).

Curts primarily performed a Critical Infrastructure Protection role by acting as Scene of Action Commander for Oil Platform protection efforts at the Khawar al Amaya and al Basrah oil terminals in the northern Persian Gulf.