Deploying to WestPac in early 1966, "Richard E. Kraus" operated off Vietnam with Task Group 77.7 (TG 77.7) in the Tonkin Gulf, with TG 77.6 on "Yankee" and "Dixie" Stations, and provided gunfire support off South Vietnam until steaming home by way of the Suez Canal, arriving at Newport on 17 August 1966. She operated off the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean until May 1967 when she deployed to the Mediterranean. During the 6-day Arab-Israeli War, she operated out of Suda Bay, Crete. Back at Newport in late September, she assisted in extinguishing a fire in the after engine room of in November.