In 1967 "Leary" was active in Operation Sea Dragon and was responsible for using her guns to destroy land targets, as well as interdict sea lines of communication between North and South Vietnam. Steaming generally in pairs, the two to four American and Australian destroyers and one cruiser worked with carrier-based spotter planes, such as the Douglas A-1 Skyraider and Grumman S-2 Tracker, to find, identify, and destroy infiltrating vessels and shore targets. The destroyers took heavy fire from North Vietnamese coastal batteries, and "Leary" would immediately return fire. Although it was reported that life aboard Sea Dragon destroyers proved stressful and tiring, morale consistently remained high because of the operation's effectiveness. While several ships were hit, no U.S. or Australian vessel was sunk during the two-year-long Sea Dragon operation and "Leary" remained undamaged. "Leary" remained active in Sea Dragon until the end of October 1968.