USS McInerney (FFG 8) departed for a Mediterranean/Indian Ocean deployment in November 1982. This first major deployment included support of the Multi-National Force in Beirut, and a crossing of the equator en route to Diego Garcia, earning her a Navy Expeditionary Medal. The guided-missile frigate returned to homeport in May 1983, and completed a Selected Restricted Availability period from August 1983 to January 1984.

In October 1984 USS McInerney departed for a scheduled underway period to the Middle East in the midst of the Iran/Iraq Tanker War, returning home in March 1985.

In May 1986, FFG 8 transited to Boston to commence an extended Selected Restricted Availability period during which the AN/SQQ-89(V)2 Anti-Submarine Warfare Suite, fin stabilizers, the Recovery, Assist, Securing and Traversing (RAST) system and single audio system were installed. It completed the availability period in June of 1987, and once again commenced workups and Refresher Training.

In August 1988, USS McInerney was underway for its third deployment - this one to the Mediterranean. She returned from the Mediterranean in Feb. 1989, and departed for the northern Atlantic in the spring. Anti-Submarine Warfare operations led her above the Arctic Circle, and then returned to Mayport in May.

Another Selected Restricted Availability, more Refresher Training, and workups followed, with a deployment to the Middle East in January 1991. After brief ASW operation in the Mediterranean Sea the guided-missile frigate entered the Persian Gulf in support of coalition forces against Iraq and performed in every warfare area during the conflict, including convoy escort, mine, anti-air and anti-surface operations. It returned from the Middle East in July, after escorting more than 50 merchant vessels through the mine-swept waters to Kuwait ports.

The McInerney conducted another Selected Restricted Availability period from September to December, and continues to prepare for action anywhere, anytime. McInerney's humanitarian efforts include assisting the tug Taurus in the Jacksonville Operating Area, transferring a wounded merchant seaman during the Tanker War, rescuing Sailors from the sinking motor vessel Jenneastar in the Mediterranean, and escorting merchant shipping carrying needed supplies to the ports of Kuwait through mine-swept channels in the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm.

November 10, 1997 USS McInerney, with the assistance of the Colombian Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, seized approximately 2,200 pounds of cocaine, one 40-foot boat and arrested four people after chasing down a vessel. The frigate, with a Coast Guard law enforcement detachment on board, sighted the 40-foot boat heading north about 105 miles north of Colombia.

February 3, 2003 USS McInerney departed Mayport Naval Station for a routine deployment in Caribbean in support of Maritime Interdiction.

June 9, FFG 8 continued its impressive go-fast, speedboat, interdiction record in late May, nabbing an offshore high performance race boat in high seas, while on routine patrol in the western Caribbean. This bust marked the crew’s fourth seizure of illegal drugs in four months, and resulted in the interdiction of more than two and a half tons of cocaine, as well as the detention of five suspected smugglers. The McInerney has seized more than 10 tons of cocaine and apprehended 30 suspected smugglers since departed homeport.

June 12, USS McInerney pulled to Antofagasta, Chile, to participate in Teamwork South 2003, a three-week multinational exercise hosted by the Chilean Navy and executed in Chilean territorial waters. Nearly 3,500 Sailors and Airmen aboard 19 ships and 13 aircraft from Chile, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom are exercising in all warfare areas.

June 20, The guided-missile frigate pulled to Caldera Bay, Chile, for a one day port call.

August 1, USS McInerney and USS Stump recently completed two major exercises in support of Commander, U.S. Southern Command’s Theater Security Strategy. The U.S. Navy ships participated first in UNITAS 44-03 Pacific Phase off the coast of Ecuador, followed immediately by their participation in PANAMAX 2003, the first multinational, joint exercise designed as a response to potential sea-borne threats to the Panama Canal.

July 21, 2006 More than 16,000 service members from five countries, including the McInerney, as part of Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, will participate in Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) 06-2 "Operation Bold Step," July 21-31. JTFEX 06-2 serves as the forward-certifying event for the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, and sustainment training for units from the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and USS Bataan Expeditionary Strike Group.

January 11, 2007 The guided-missile frigate is currently underway conducting exercises and operations at sea in support of the Joint and Inter-Agency counter-drug efforts in the U.S. Southern Command area of operations.

February 9, USS McInerney, commanded by Cmdr. Patrick T. Holub, added to its string of successes on her counter-narco terrorism (CNT) deployment by supporting the seizure of 2.3 metric tons of cocaine in mid-January from a fishing vessel off the coast of Costa Rica. This was the first joint seizure between Costa Rica and the United States.

February 24, FFG 8 visited Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Panama, Feb. 18-21, just in time for Carnivale, as known as Mardi Gras.

April 5, USS McInerney returned to Naval Station Mayport after being independently deployed for Counter-Narco Terrorism. The ship operated in support of operation "Caribbean Shield" and Operation "Caper Focus" in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The crew apprehended over 5.5 metric tons of contraband worth an estimated $200 million.

June 5, FFG 8 recently departed Boston, Mass., after a four-day port visit in honor of the city’s Dorchester Day.

April 16, 2008 USS McInerney recently departed Roatan, Honduras, after a goodwill port visit. The guided-missile frigate deployed April 4 to the U.S. Southern Command area of focus in support of Counter-Narco Terrorism operations in conjunction with Joint Interagency Task Force, South.

September 13, The McInerney and U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 404 intercepted a self-propelled semi-submersible (SPSS) drug smuggling vessel, 350 miles off the coast of Guatemala, carrying seven tons of cocaine with a street value of $107 millions.

October 5, USS McInerney returned to homeport after a six-month counter-illicit trafficking deployment in the eastern Pacific Ocean. While underway the frigate intercepted 22 tons of cocaine and visited ports of Roatan, Honduras; Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Panama; Manta, Ecuador; Salaverry, Peru; Golfito, Costa Rica; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; and Cartagena, Colombia.

June 19, 2009 Cmdr. Paul D. Young relieved Cmdr. C. Keith Wheeler as CO of FFG 8 during a change-of-command ceremony aboard the frigate at Naval Station Mayport.

October 5, USS McInerney departed Mayport for its final underway period. She will be the first gas turbine propelled ship to complete 30 years of service during their six-month deployment. All other ships of this kind have decommissioned prior to accomplishing this significant milestone.

April 3, 2010 During a routine test flight, a MQ-8B Fire Scout supported its first drug interdiction with the McInerney and a U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment.

April 15, USS McInerney returned home after a six-month deployment to the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) Area of Responsibility. The ship participated in four multinational exercises and disrupted nearly 10 tons of narcotics.

August 31, USS McInerney (FFG 8) was officially decommissioned in a ceremony at Mayport Naval Station, after more than 30 years of service, and then is commissioned as PNS Alamgir (F-260) in the Pakistan navy. After the ship undergoes a dry docking and pier-side refurbishment, it will leave the United States for Pakistan in January.