"Greenwood" sailed for the Pacific 29 November 1943, reaching Samoa, via the Panama Canal 26 December. She spent nearly a year in the South Pacific escorting transports and cargo ships through the New Hebrides and the Solomons, with side trips to Australia. On 30 December 1944 "Greenwood" sailed from New Guinea to join Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid's 7th Fleet at Leyte Gulf. After escorting 26 merchantmen and LSTs to the Philippines and screening them while there, "Greenwood" sailed for Ulithi. There she picked up a convoy of supply and troop ships bound for Iwo Jima, still the scene of bloody battle, and sailed 5 March. Departing the Iwo Jima area 27 March, "Greenwood" sailed to Eniwetok, where she conducted submarine and anti-submarine training exercises.