The Barnstable County left Norfolk on 5 January 1976 and steamed to Morehead City, N.C., in company with the four other units of PhibRon 8: Spiegel Grove (LSD-32), Raleigh (LPD-1), Guadalcanal (LPH-7), and Charleston (LKA-113). Arriving at Morehead City on the 6th, the ships loaded the 34th Marine Amphibious Unit (34th MAU) for rehearsal landings at Onslow Beach. After completing the weather-delayed exercises, Barnstable County finally got underway for Rota, Spain, on 10 January. The Atlantic crossing proved difficult and took longer than anticipated because engineering problems plagued several ships of the squadron. Upon arrival in Rota turnover formalities proceeded quickly, and Barnstable County officially joined the 6th Fleet. Plans for a landing exercise on Spain's Atlantic coast had to be canceled as a result of civil war in Lebanon, and the squadron passed through the Strait of Gibraltar instead on its way to Augusta Bay, Sicily. The civil unrest in Lebanon dominated the ship's schedule for the remainder of the cruise. During this first stop in the Mediterranean, Barnstable County anchored with the squadron at Sicily for a few days. In the course of the training anchorage visit there, a violent storm broke with winds exceeding 50 knots. Upon departing Augusta Bay after the storm subsided the ship headed for its first liberty port, Reggio di Calobia, on the Italian Riviera. The ship arrived on 1 February and stayed until 6 February. Departing Reggio on a Friday the ship arrived at Brindisi, Italy, the following day for a seven day training anchorage visit. The ship then proceeded to Villefranche, France, arriving on 16 February. Barnstable County left Villefranche on 23 February and proceeded to Monte Romano, Italy, where she carried out more amphibious training late in February. Early in March, the ship made a four-day port call at Naples, putting to sea again on the 5th bound for Sardinia to participate in NATO Exercise "Sardinia '76." After conducting a simulated opposed passage to Sardinia, Barnstable County sent her marines ashore in the first wave and then took little further part in the evolution. At the mission's conclusion, she reembarked the marines on 18 March and headed for Syracuse, Sicily, where her crew enjoyed a week of liberty. On 26 March, urgent orders interrupted her employment schedule once again and sent her to a holding area just east of Crete in response to an intensification of the situation in Lebanon. For the first few weeks she steamed squares in the ocean while rehearsing contingency plans for a possible evacuation of Americans from Beirut. Despite the passage of time, the Lebanese political scene remained volatile; so the squadron moved to a deep water anchorage outside Crete's territorial waters. April and May came and went without any real change, except that, late in May, the squadron got underway and steamed closer to Lebanon. Finally, after 69 days at sea, a lull in the fighting coupled with negotiations in progress allowed Barnstable County to proceed to Naples for a scheduled port call. The visit lasted from 1 to 4 June, and, then the squadron left for an amphibious exercise conducted at Carboneras, Spain. At its end, the squadron returned to the eastern Mediterranean and resumed station off Lebanon. This time, the squadron moved to within 30 miles of the Lebanese coast. Spiegel Grove closed to within 25 miles of the shore and dispatched an LCU to the beach while Barnstable County and the other ships stood by on station. After Spiegel Grove evacuated several hundred civilians, the squadron moved back near the coast of Crete, where its relief soon arrived. The turnover process, during which the new squadron assumed stand-by duties, lasted two days; and then Barnstable County shaped a westerly course for Rota. She reached Rota on 30 June and stayed there until 5 July when she embarked on a northerly passage home. Barnstable County arrived back in Little Creek on 15 July. Post-deployment leave and upkeep took up the rest of July and most of August.