February, Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron (Light—HSL-42) Detachment 3, equipped with a single Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawk Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS) Mk III, embarked on board Klakring. The ship began participation in her first major fleet exercise, Composite Unit Training Exercise (COMTUEX) 2-85, on 22 April 1985. She broke up the training with a three-day visit to Frederiksted, U.S. Virgin Islands, and returned to Charleston on 8 May. The destroyer and Klakring sailed as MEF 3-85 Transit Group for the Middle East Force on 7 June 1985. This cruise marked the frigate's first overseas deployment. Comdr. Whalig served as the group's officer in tactical command (OTC). The two ships fueled and provisioned at Ponta Delgada, Azores, on 13 June, entered the United States Sixth Fleet, and stopped for additional fuel and supplies at Rota, Spain, on 16 June. Klakring visited Palma de Mallorca, Spain (18–21 June). The ship then crossed the Mediterranean by easterly courses. Klakring passed southbound through the Suez Canal on 25 and 26 June 1985. As the ship crossed the Red Sea, she began to observe the weekends on Thursdays and Fridays to assimilate crewmen to Muslim daily routines. Klakring fueled and provisioned at Djibouti, Horn of Africa, on 30 June. On 1 July, she rendezvoused with guided missile destroyer and exchanged information and equipment. Whalig became Commander Task Unit (CTU) 109.1.2, and oversaw the scheduling of all multi-ship training in the Persian Gulf. Klakring sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, and on 7 July rendezvoused with command ship near Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The frigate escorted the flagship to Sitrah, Bahrain. During the ship's first two months in the Persian Gulf, visibility averaged barely because of haze, sand, and dust. The daily temperature repeatedly rose to with 90% humidity. The frigate's Seahawk flew an average of two sorties per day, and the crew reported that the presence of the strong temperature inversion made radar ranges of 160 nautical miles at altitudes below common, which extended the helo's patrol coverage of the region. The ship next visited Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia (14–17 July 1985), briefly patrolled the Persian Gulf, and then completed upkeep at Mina Salman, Bahrain (22–31 July). On 6 August, Klakring escorted La Salle, and fueled and provisioned at Sitrah on 20 August. The frigate sailed from the Persian Gulf, and (25–28 August) visited Karachi, Pakistan. She passed through the Strait of Hormuz into the