Loaded with minesweeping equipment, she departed Norfolk 26 April, transited the Panama Canal 7 May, and arrived San Diego, 20 May.

Following training, Picket departed San Diego 9 June, and proceeded via Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, Guam, and Saipan to Okinawa, arriving 28 July to serve as minesweeper tender.

Through 31 October she operated with minesweepers to clear the approaches to Hiro, Kure, Gunchū, and Matsuyama for U.S. Army landings.

On 10 October 1969 Willow was decommissioned and stored at the Coast Guard Training Support Center in Alameda, California.

As a buoy tender, the largest in the Coast Guard at time of conversion, duties were tending navigational aids and conducting search and rescue and law enforcement as needed.