 On 26 January 1966, a week after departing Newport, "Basilone" transited the Panama Canal to complete the first leg of her passage to join Task Force 77 (TF 77) on Dixie Station off South Vietnam.After 10 days plane-guarding the aircraft carrier , the destroyer closed the shore to provide gunfire support in the IV Corps area from 14 March to 19.She briefly assumed a picket station in the Tonkin Gulf before steaming to Subic Bay and Hong Kong for rest and replenishment.