"Kitty Hawk" set sail for a planned three-month underway period 2 March 1999, which included Exercise Tandem Thrust off Guam. Following the exercise, the "Kitty Hawk"/CVW-5 team was ordered to the Persian Gulf to enforce the No-Fly Zone over Southern Iraq. CVW-5 pilots flew more than 8,800 sorties in 116 days, including 1,300 combat sorties, dropping more than 20 tons of ordnance. On the return trip to Japan, "Kitty Hawk" made port visits to Perth, Western Australia, and Pattaya, Thailand. "Kitty Hawk" returned to Yokosuka 25 August 1999. She was again underway to the Sea of Japan 22 October to participate in Exercises Foal Eagle and AnnualEx 11G.