By 3 August 1943, "Calvert" was back at Norfolk, a veteran of assault landings in the Atlantic, and now Pacific-bound for stepping stone invasions to the Japanese homeland. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 26 September to train and land troops of the 27th Infantry Division on Makin, Gilbert Islands, 20 November. Her busy schedule took the transport back to the west coast the following month to train troops for forthcoming amphibious assaults, and in January 1944 she was underway for the Marshalls where on 1 February her troops stormed ashore on Kwajalein for another successful invasion.