The ship was named for United States Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipient Robert A. Owens.

She was named for United States Marine Corps Sergeant Robert A. Owens (1920–1943), who was awarded both the Navy Cross and Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroic actions in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay.

Duty in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean followed and on 23 December she entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) overhaul.

Robert A. Owens then participated in the search for submarine Scorpion (SSN-589) from 28 May to 13 June, and conducted ASW operations before deploying to the 6th Fleet from 5 September 1968 to 27 January 1969.

Between 1 January 1970 and 31 December 1972, she alternated two Mediterranean deployments with normal operations in the Atlantic and Caribbean out of her home port, Norfolk, Virginia.

Robert A. Owens was decommissioned on 16 February 1982 and transferred to the Republic of Turkey through the Security Assistance Program (SAP) that same day.