Dubuque relieved USS Cleveland as the launch platform for HMA-369's Marine Hunter-Killer (MARHUK) Operations near Hon La (Tiger Island) off the coast of North Vietnam.

There, she joined the Seventh Fleet Overseas Family Residency Program, her primary mission to support the Marine Corps in the Western Pacific.

Dubuque’s commanding officer, accessed the situation and decided to distribute food and water to the castaways, as well as charts providing limited navigational information.

[2] The food and water proved inadequate for the actual number of people on board the boat, however; and as many as 58 died, an estimated 20 succumbed before they sighted Dubuque, and the remaining victims following the U.S. ship’s departure from the area.

Immediately following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, Dubuque was deployed to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Desert Shield.

The ship functioned as the leading element of Amphibious Ready Group Bravo, which transported Marine Regimental Landing Team Four to Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia during the critical early stages of the multi-national buildup.

In November 1998 Dubuque again deployed to the Persian Gulf as part of the Belleau Wood Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) on support of Operation Desert Fox.

[3] In early May 2009 Dubuque had to abort a humanitarian aid mission to the South Pacific after a sailor on board developed Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 during the worldwide 2009 swine flu pandemic.

Dubuque was sunk as a target on 11 July 2024 during the RIMPAC 2024 exercise[7][8] A number of weapons were used during the test, including a Quicksink bomb dropped from a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.