Arriving in Pearl Harbor on the 29th, Barrow then conducted amphibious exercises at Maui with elements of the Army's 381st and 389th Regimental Combat Teams through the end of November.

Ideally suited to serve both as a base for fighter escort and as an emergency landing area for B-29's, Iwo Jima also figured prominently in Japanese defense plans.

Bad weather postponed her scheduled practice landings for two days so that only a single rehearsal was carried out off Tinian's western shores on the 13th.

Soon, she sent the medical section of her beach party to the hospital configured tank landing ship, LST(H)-930, before transferring 76 marines to USS Starr (AKA-67) and sending nine of her boats to Lowndes.

Surprisingly little fire greeted the initial landings, but soon the well dug in Japanese defenders began laying down a withering barrage from a variety of weapons.

At 1445 on the 21st, the ship finally received instructions to land the advance echelon of her embarked headquarters company, and she carried out the order later that day.

Following her retirement for the night of 26 and 27 February, Barrow discharged cargo to LST-787 on the 27th and then unloaded the rest of her stock of 8 inch ammunition to USS Pensacola (CA-24).

After anchoring off Iwo Jima's southeastern shore overnight, Barrow got underway on 1 March to pick up empty powder cans from the destroyers in the vicinity.

Then, after unloading the last of her cargo to LSM 207, she cleared the area for the Marianas in company with her fellow attack transports Lowndes, Pickens, Logan and Sanborn.

Reaching Saipan on 4 March, Barrow disembarked 58 men wounded at Iwo Jima and soon began to get ready for her next operation—the assault on Okinawa, largest of the Ryukyu Islands.

On 6 and 7 March, while in Tanapag Harbor, Barrow embarked officers and men of the 2nd Marine Division and loaded 3rd Amphibious Corps cargo.

After shifting to Saipan Harbor later that day, the attack transport and her embarked troops spent the period from 7 to 16 March provisioning and preparing for the upcoming operation with emergency drills and disembarkation exercises.

On the morning of 27 March, Barrow - attached to Task Group (TG) 51.2 for the Battle of Okinawa landings - sailed for the Ryukyus and made landfall early on Easter Sunday, 1 April.

Barrow's men manned their battle stations at 0520; and, about an hour later, the ship took her assigned position in a diversionary feint to confuse Okinawa's defenders.

At 0630 on 2 April, while Barrow was returning from her night retirement station, she spotted a Nakajima Ki-27 "Nate" Army fighter crossing her bow.

That day, Barrow's gunners splashed one bogey that appeared from off the starboard bow, about 3,000 yards ahead of the ship, and contributed to the intense barrage sent up by American warships in her vicinity.

On the 7th, Rear Admiral Jerauld Wright and his staff, embarked in the attack transport, and she served as flagship for Amphibious Squadron 5 until USS Ancon (AGC-4) arrived in the area.

While en route to Portland, Oregon, Barrow assisted the crippled merchantman, SS Ben F. Dixon, which had lost her propeller.

After bringing back her second lift of "Magic Carpet" men to Pearl Harbor—where she arrived on 5 February 1946 – Barrow was assigned to the Commandant, 14th Naval District, in connection with "special tests."