On 1 January 1988, "Crommelin" was reassigned to Destroyer Squadron 9, and on 6 March 1988, the ship received a second consecutive Navy "E" award. Upon completion of its second availability period at Todd Pacific Shipyard, "Crommelin" was deployed in March 1989 again to the Persian Gulf. In October 1990 "Crommelin" was deployed in support of joint service, counternarcotics operations in the Central, South American, and Caribbean theater. "Crommelin" was awarded the Joint Meritorious Unit Award for its performance during this deployment. In 1991, "Crommelin" received the Navy "E" as well as its fifth consecutive warfare excellence awards for anti-air and anti-surface warfare, navigation and seamanship, damage control, engineering, and communications. On 1 September 1991, "Crommelin" shifted homeports to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and joined Destroyer Squadron 31.