She carried reinforcement troops and supplies on her outbound journeys and returned wounded men during her voyages back to Pearl Harbor.

She left the Southwest Pacific on 19 June carrying Army troops whom she disembarked at San Francisco before continuing on to Everett, Washington, for upkeep.

At the end of June, she embarked troops and cargo and began another voyage to Pearl Harbor where she resumed ferry service between the islands.

She steamed to Jinsen, Korea, in October before being assigned to the "Magic Carpet" fleet that returned veterans to the United States for discharge.

Bandera was decommissioned on 7 May 1946, returned to the Maritime Commission, and placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at James River on the 14th.