In late 1990, USS America joined USS John F. Kennedy and Saratoga in the Red Sea as part of Operation Desert Shield, arriving the day operations were to begin. USS America remained part of the Red Sea Battle Force until directed to join USS Ranger, USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Midway in the Persian Gulf. In the six-week campaign, VF-102 logged more than 1400 combat flight hours.

 VF-102 F-14B Tomcat carrying TARPS loadout including ECA and ALQ-167
The squadron embarked on USS America again in December 1991 for a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf.

In early August 1993, the squadron embarked on USS America to begin their third Mediterranean deployment in three years. During this deployment the squadron conducted humanitarian operations off the coast of Bosnia-Herzegovina supporting Operation Provide Promise and Operation Deny Flight. In late October the squadron supported Operation Restore Hope off the coast of Mogadishu, Somalia. By mid-December they were supporting Operation Southern Watch in Iraq.

In June 1994, the squadron returned to NAS Oceana and transitioned to the F-14B aircraft. The squadron's 1995–1996 Mediterranean cruise began with an emergency sortie to the Adriatic Sea to take part in Operation Deliberate Force. They then proceeded to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch. Placement of U.S. ground forces in Bosnia, led to another America emergency sortie back to the Adriatic in December. The squadron remained in the Adriatic for the remainder of the cruise, logging more than 4,000 hours and over 1,900 traps during the deployment.

With the disestablishment VF-33, VF-102 became America's sole F-14 unit, completing its final deployment on 24 February 1996. Upon America's decommissioning in 1996, VF-102 (and the rest of CVW-1) was assigned to USS George Washington.

In 1997, the squadron deployed aboard George Washington. A port visit to Haifa, Israel was cut short late in November as the carrier battle group was ordered to the Persian Gulf in response to Saddam Hussein's barring UN weapon inspectors from carrying out their assigned tasks. As the crisis grew George Washington joined USS Nimitz and HMS Invincible. VF-102 returned to Norfolk on 13 March 1998.

In Autumn 1999, VF-102 deployed again to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch over southern Iraq. VF-102 carried out strikes on numerous anti-aircraft and radar sites and conducted numerous TARPS missions.