Webster was appointed commanding officer of Company D in October 1943 and participated in the amphibious exercises along the Santa Margarita River, where regiment practiced night attacks and pillbox assaults. Webster sailed with his battalion for Pacific area at the beginning of January 1944 and after brief stay at Maui, Hawaii, the 24th Marines under the command of Colonel Franklin A. Hart were ordered to the Marshall Islands in order to participate in Roi Namur operation.