"La Salle" was converted to a "miscellaneous command ship" and given the hull classification symbol AGF-3 after an overhaul in 1972. After re-fitting in 1972 she was sent to homeport in Bahrain and serve in a mainly diplomatic capacity, at a time when one of America's main allies in the Middle East, the Shah of Iran, controlled the Persian Gulf. In addition, to highlight its new diplomatic role in the general Middle East region, "La Salle" was painted white to highlight its diplomatic as opposed to military missions. Admiral William J. Crowe, who later became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Ronald Reagan, was named Commander Middle East Force and assigned to "La Salle" to serve in this diplomatic role. In this time before the Gulf War, piracy off the east coast of Africa and the re-activation of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, only "La Salle" along with two U.S. Navy destroyers dispatched from the U.S. east coast on a six-month rotating basis were routinely on patrol in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and the general Indian Ocean regions. "La Salle" was considered by the Navy to be isolated duty and anything but a plum assignment by its crew. To symbolize its relatively minor status as a fighting ship at this time, "La Salle"s nickname, emblazoned on T-shirts sold in the ship's store and wryly smiled about by those many of the ship's crew who wore them, unofficially became "The Great White Whale". By the time of Gulf War the ship had become known, more appropriately to its future operational roles, by its new nickname "The Great White Ghost of the Arabian Coast".