On 1 June 2000, "Spruance" became the first U.S. Navy ship to use the drydock in Jacksonville, Florida, in over ten years. She left Naval Station Mayport, Florida, early on 1 June, traveled up the St. John's River to the drydock facility, and remained there until early August. During the drydock, the ship was raised out of the water, her hull was cleaned and inspected, and corrective and preventative maintenance was performed. On 24 September 2001, as part of the "John F. Kennedy" Carrier Battle Group, "Spruance" commenced use of the Vieques Island inner range in conjunction with their Composite Unit Training Exercises (COMPUTEX). The exercise, which began the week prior, also utilized the northern and southern Puerto Rican operating areas, and involved complex battle group training events, naval surface fire-support training and air-to-ground bombing. COMPUTEX is an intermediate level battle group exercise designed to forge the battle group into a cohesive, fighting team, and is a critical step in the predeployment training cycle and prerequisite for the battle group's Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) scheduled for early the following year. Successful completion of the COMPUTEX also certifies the carrier and its embarked air wing as qualified for open ocean operations.