[3] Designed as a multi-mission ship, Vella Gulf was capable of sustained combat operations in Anti-Air, Anti-Submarine, Anti-Surface, and Strike warfare environments.

Vella Gulf's successful completion, in February 1999, of Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) '99 marked the end of a ten-month work-up.

In May and June, Vella Gulf continued to participate in support of combat operations, fired Tomahawks, assumed warfare commander duties (ADC, ASUWC, ASWC and Launch Area Coordinator), and conducted numerous at-sea refueling and stores replenishment events until the relaxation of weapons posture and cessation of hostilities.

As part of the USS George Washington Carrier Battle Group (CVBG), and in response to the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the ship set sail in support of defense and humanitarian efforts off the coast of New York.

A week later, she deployed as part of the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Battle Group, to the Mediterranean, and South Asia in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

[4] On 5 January 2007, Vella Gulf departed on a six-month cruise as part of the Bataan expeditionary strike group (BATESG).

[7] The following day, 12 February, Vella Gulf responded to a distress call from the Indian freighter Premdivya which reported that she had been pursued by pirates who had fired at the ship.

Vella Gulf launched a boarding party in two RHIBs (inflatable boats) and captured nine pirates, who were again transferred to Lewis and Clark for processing.

[8] In 2012 while Vella Gulf was at sea, a petty officer sexually assaulted a female sailor, telling her he planned to kill her and dispose of her body overboard.

[12] In 2020, a U.S. Navy budget plan proposed putting Vella Gulf, along with her Ticonderoga-class sister ships Monterey, Shiloh, and Port Royal, on a path to early decommissioning, as they had not been modernized.