 In 1990, "Missouri" again took part in the RimPac Exercise with ships from Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, and the U.S.

On 2 August 1990 Iraq, led by President Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait.In the middle of the month U.S. President George H. W. Bush, in keeping with the Carter Doctrine, sent the first of several hundred thousand troops, along with a strong force of naval support, to Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf area to support a multinational force in a standoff with Iraq.