After completing her fitting out, Aquila got underway from Bremerton, Washington, on 15 July 1982 in company with Taurus (PHM-3) and Frederick (LST-1184) and shaped a course for her home port, Key West, Florida. Frederick escorted the two guided-missile hydrofoil gunboats as far as Rodman in the Canal Zone where El Paso (LKA-117) took over. Aquila and her traveling companions transited the Panama Canal on 8 August and arrived in Key West three days later. The warship spent the remainder of 1982 conducting shakedown and other training out of her base at the Trumbo Point Annex, Naval Air Station, Key West, Florida. During the first quarter of 1983, post-shakedown repairs occupied her time. That spring, Aquila embarked upon a schedule of normal training duties out of Key West that occupied her time through the summer and into the all of 1983. From 10 to 20 October, she joined Taurus and Spartanburg County (LST-1192) for special operations in the Caribbean Sea.
What was the home port of the Aquila?
The Aquila home port was Trumbo Point Annex, Naval Air Station, Key West, Florida.