"Dennis J. Buckley" sailed from Boston on 1 May 1956 to join the Pacific Fleet. Arriving at Long Beach on 28 June, she got underway on 9 July for a tour of duty in the western Pacific from which she returned to Long Beach on 21 October. During her second Far Eastern tour, in 1957, she screened , patrolled off Taiwan briefly, and served as flagship for Commander, Destroyer Flotillas, western Pacific, during October, when she was visited by the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Arleigh A. Burke. Local operations engaged "Dennis J. Buckley" until 23 August 1958 when she again sailed for the Far East where she joined Task Force 72 (TF 72) to resupply Nationalist Chinese holding the Quemoy Islands against the threat of Communist seizure.