Between the years 1975 and 1978, Acushnet conducted search-and-rescue research of the Gulf of Mexico shelf area, conducted the first marriage on board a Coast Guard vessel since the mid-19th century, and made her first drug seizure of 18 tons of marijuana and 21 smugglers.
In late 1978, the cutter embarked on a patrol to participate in the Global Weather Experiment, 140-nation effort to gather worldwide weather information.