Construction of DDG 85 took place at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, starting with the ship's keel being laid on July 16, 1999. The McCampbell was launched in July 2000, ran her first sea trials in January 2002, and was delivered to the Navy in March 2002.

USS McCampbell was commissioned on August 17, 2002, in San Francisco at Pier 30. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright served as ship's sponsor while Buffy McCampbell, wife of the ship's namesake, served as matron of honor. The Aegis destroyer honors Capt. David S. McCampbell, the Navy’s all-time leading ace with 34 aerial victories during World War II.

May 12, 2003 In the predawn hours, off the coast of Central America, ship’s force and members of a U.S Coast Guard law enforcement detachment conducted a discrete boarding of the "Sin Rumbo," a Canadian flagged sailing vessel. Inside the vessel, the boarding team from USS McCampbell discovered 1.36 metric tons of cocaine packaged for shipment and valued at more than $20 million.

June 24, USS McCampbell returned to homeport from its first deployment. She has been conducting counter-narcotics operations under the operational command of Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) West and South in the eastern Pacific Transit Zone since it left San Diego April 19. The McCampbell completed eight boardings, 34 Right Of Approaches, and 108 sightings and identifications of various vessels. The crew enjoyed several port visits to the cities of Mazaltan and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; and Balboa, Panama.

May 5, 2004 USS McCampbell departed San Diego for its first six-month deployment in the western Pacific. The ship and its crew are headed to Southeast Asia in support of a Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) cruise. CARAT is a series of bilateral exercises held annually throughout Southeast Asia that began in 1995, by combining a number of existing exercises to be conducted sequentially by a single U.S. Navy task group. The guided-missile destroyer will be conducting joint naval exercises with the countries of Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.

August 5, The 2004 edition of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise series ended Aug. 4 with the closing ceremony of the Philippines phase. CARAT Singapore was conducted from May 31-June 11 while CARAT Brunei took place from June 21-26. The 10-day CARAT Thailand phase ended July 9. CARAT Malaysia was performed from July 12-22. The CARAT Task Group ships arrived in the Philippines July 27 for the final phase of the CARAT series. DDG 85 returned to homeport in September.

January 4, 2006 USS McCampbell departed Naval Base San Diego, as part of USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) Carrier Strike Group, for a scheduled deployment in support of the Global War on Terrorism, as well as national and theater cooperative security commitments in the western Pacific.

February 17, DDG 85 recently departed Republic of Maldives after a goodwill port visit.

March 25, USS McCampbell and The Kiribati-flagged merchant vessel M/V Rokya 1 collided at 11:09 p.m., local time, approximately 30 miles southeast of the Iraqi coastline in the North Persian Gulf. Two U.S. Sailors received minor injuries as a result of the collision. Two crew members from Rokya 1 also received minor injuries and were treated on-scene by McCampbell's independent duty corpsman. Both ships received damage on the bow and are deemed seaworthy. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

April 29, USS McCambell, commanded by Cmdr. Vincent McBeth, and USNS Catawba (T-ATF 168), along with Bahrain Coast Guard emergency management teams, participated in a proof-of-concept demonstration off the port of Mina Salman. Two U.S. Navy ships executed the proof of concept, which entailed simulating an oil spill and conducting the subsequent containment and recovery.

June 3, DDG 85 pulled to Singapore for a scheduled port call. The ship is en route to its homeport in San Diego after five months on station in the Gulf.

June 13, The guided-misile destroyer departed Hong Kong after a three-day port visit.

June 16, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7, along with other ships and military personnel from around the U.S. Pacific Fleet, is making preparations for Valiant Shield 2006, one of the largest joint military exercises in this region in more than a decade. Two ships from DESRON 7, the McCampbell and Decatur (DDG 73), will be operating off the coast of Guam June 19-23. The exercise will involve more than 20,000 Sailors, Airmen, Soldiers, Marines and Coast Guardsmen.

July 6, DDG 85 returned to San Diego after a six-month underway period in the Persian Gulf and western Pacific Ocean.

June 21, 2007 USS McCampbell departed San Diego for its new homeport in Japan.

July 9, USS McCampbell, commanded by Cmdr. William Triplett, arrived in Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka (CFAY) to take the place of USS Gary (FFG 51), which is scheduled to leave FAY and return to San Diego.

August 13, DDG 85 is currently participating in Exercise Valiant Shield 2007, as part of USS Kitty Hawk CSG, off the coast of Guam.

November 16, USS McCampbell completed its participation in ANNUALEX 19G, the maritime component of the U.S.-Japan exercise Keen Sword 08.

December 12, Sailors aboard the USS McCampbell successfully completed the Ship Anti-submarine Warfare Readiness and Evaluation Measurement (SHAREM) 155 exercise, a bilateral exercise with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), which took place Nov. 30 to Dec. 4. McCampbell served as the command ship and was joined by USS Lassen (DDG 82), USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), USS Topeka (SSN 752), two JMSDF surface ships, and U.S. and Japanese aircraft during the exercise.

June 23, 2008 The guided-missile destroyer recently arrived in Singapore for the third phase of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2008 Exercise.

August 12, USS McCampbell departed homeport to participate in a multilateral exercise FRUKUS 2008 in the Sea of Japan Aug. 15-23.

August 13, The United States has cancelled a joint naval exercise with Russia after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Moscow that it's attacks on Georgia have jeopardised its integration into international institutions. The exercises were to involve warships from Russia, France, Britain and the U.S. in the Sea of Japan as well as an onshore component in the Russian port of Vladivostok.

October 2, DDG 85 departed Yokosuka to conduct training and to participate in exercises with regional naval partners, for the first time as part of USS George Washington (CVN 73) CSG.

March 4, 2009 The McCampbell is currently participating in Multi-Sail '09 exercise in the western Pacific.

May 17, USS McCampbell departed Shimoda, Japan, after a two-day port visit in support of the 70th Shimoda Black Ship Festival.

July 14, The guided-missile destroyer is currently off the coast of Australia supporting bilateral training exercise Talisman Sabre 2009 with the Washington Carrier Strike Group.

August 6, DDG 85 pulled to Darwin, Australia, for a scheduled port visit.

August 15, The McCampbell, commanded by Cmdr. Charles Johnson, arrived in Bitung to participate in the Indonesia International Fleet Review (IFR).

September 3, USS McCampbell returned to Yokosuka after a summer underway period.

October 3, The guided-missile destroyer departed Hong Kong after a two-day port call.

October 9, USS McCampbell joined USS Denver (LPD 9) off the coast of Padang, Indonesia, to assist in humanitarian efforts in West Sumatra following two earthquakes.

April 13, 2010 DDG 85 is currently participating in Multi-Sail 2010 exercise off the coast of Okinawa.

May 13, USS McCampbell, along with USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), arrived in Hong Kong for a scheduled port visit.

May 26, The McCampbell is currently conducting Combat System Ship Qualification Trials (CSSQT) with the GW CSG.

July 25, The guided-missile destroyer departed Busan, Republic of Korea, after a four-day port visit to participate in "Invincible Spirit," a combined alliance maritime and air readiness exercise involving the Republic of Korea and the United States in the East Sea, July 25-28.

August 11, USS McCampbell pulled into Changi Naval Base for a scheduled port visit to Singapore.

September 4, DDG 85 arrived in Manila, Republic of the Philippines, for a four-day port call.