That service, broken only by a voyage to Halifax, Nova Scotia in April and May 1956, and by a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean from 29 August 1957 to 12 February 1958, lasted until March 1958.

In July 1959, after 15 months of duty at Panama City (punctuated by an overhaul at Charleston during the winter of 1958 and 1959) Valor took her first break from mine countermeasures development work when she was deployed to northern European waters.

The warships arrived in Congolese waters on 9 September and commenced a series of multinational minesweeping exercises involving American, Belgian, and Portuguese units.

However, that routine was broken frequently, on three occasions by six-month deployments to the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, but more often by overhauls, refresher training, and exercises in the West Indies.

Her association with the Mine Defense Laboratory ended on 1 March 1968 when she received orders transferring her to MinDiv 44 and reassigning her to Charleston as her home base.

Early in October 1969 the minesweeper began a pre-rehabilitation overhaul at Charleston in preparation for extensive modifications to update her equipment.