On 19 June 1953, "LST-975" sailed via Seattle and Point Barrow, to resupply Distant Early Warning Line (DEWS) radar stations along the Arctic Circle. On 25 August, she departed Seward, Alaska, to resume operations out of San Diego, until 19 October, when she got underway for another cruise to the Far East. Following arrival at Yokosuka, on 13 November, the tank landing ship spent nearly five months in amphibious warfare training. From 23 to 26 March 1954, she participated in a simulated assault landing on Iwo Jima - nearly a decade after the World War II operation on 19 February 1945. Returning to the west coast, the LST arrived at San Diego, on 20 May, for two years of coastal duty. Renamed "Marion County" on 1 July 1955, she departed San Diego, on 9 January 1956, for training exercises off Hawaii and the Philippines.