From June 1980 to June 1981, Service was the commander of Carrier Group 8, which operated in the Indian Ocean and participated in the January 1981 release of the American hostages that had been held in Tehran, Iran, since November 1979. From July 1981 to September 1982, he was the commander of Battle Force, Sixth Fleet, and Task Force 60 in the Mediterranean Sea. During this tour, he planned and executed a missile exercise in the Gulf of Sidra off Libya which resulted in two F-14A Tomcat fighters from Fighter Squadron 41 aboard the aircraft carrier shooting down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 (NATO reporting name "Fitter") attack aircraft during the Gulf of Sidra incident of 19 August 1981. He received the Distinguished Service Medal for this operation.