"Houston" arrived at Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal and San Diego on 6 May, and after more training exercises arrived Majuro Atoll on 31 May to join Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher's huge Fast Carrier Task Force. "Houston" was to take part in the invasion of the Mariana and Palau Islands, a spectacular amphibious operation and another important step in the drive across the Pacific Islands to Japan. Departing on 5 June 1944, "Houston" screened carrier strike units which pounded the Mariana Islands on 12–13 June and the Bonin Islands on 15–16 June.