Arriving on 1 October, Robert F. Keller joined Escort Division 72, assigned to screen the aircraft carrier Coral Sea (soon renamed Anzio).

At this newly annexed Pacific island, Robert F. Keller was attached to Air Support Unit 2 and was with that division as it participated in the Iwo Jima campaign of February 1945.

She remained in the Iwo area until 7 March and then retired to Leyte Island in the Philippines for upkeep and repair in preparation for the Okinawa operation.

She was back in the war on 10 May escorting the cruiser San Francisco to the Okinawa battleline and then guarded the convoy lanes around the beleaguered island fortress.

Task Group 30.6 set out again on 6 July on what was to be Robert F. Keller's last combat operation of the war, antisubmarine sweeps east of Tokyo.

Ten days later Robert F. Keller assisted in a kill when Lawrence C. Taylor caught the Japanese submarine I-13 on the surface and raked her with gunfire until she sank.

In September 1946 she was placed "in service" and assigned to the 13th Naval District at Puget Sound, Washington, to lend her assistance in the Navy's Reserve training program.

Through 1955 she made 39 cruises and assisted in the training of over 3,500 reserve officers and enlisted men and visited most major ports in eastern Canada, the West Indies, and the United States.