Her maiden deployment was from August 2009 to March 2010 to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf as part of the Nimitz carrier strike group (CSG).

After Sampson returned from an 8-month maiden deployment, she was back underway from May to August with port visits to the 103rd Portland Rose Festival and Esquimalt, British Columbia to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Navy.

After that the ship participated in USS Abraham Lincoln's Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX), in preparation for an independent deployment.

In July, Sampson participated in at-sea phase of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Singapore.

Sampson along with other navy ships from Australia, Canada, Japan and Singapore were dispatched directly to the area to provide humanitarian assistance.