 During this period "James E. Kyes" served as plane guard for , AAW and SSSC picket at the southern end of the Tonkin Gulf and carried out a mercy mission to a stranded South Vietnamese SeaBee Battalion on Drummon Island in the Paracel Islands group, providing them with food and water.From 30 August to 5 September, the ship fired her guns in anger for the first time since the Korean War, providing illuminations and destructive fire near the Quảng Ngãi Province area of South Vietnam while assigned as Naval Gunfire Support (NGFS) ship.From 2 to 7 August 1966, "James E. Kyes" was assigned as NGFS ship off South Vietnam.