After a year's operations off the West Coast, punctuated by one round trip to Pearl Harbor, Tulare departed San Diego on 11 February 1957 for her first deployment to the Western Pacific.

In the course of her operations in the Far East, she participated in amphibious exercises at Buckner Bay, Okinawa; called at four Japanese ports: Yokohama, Yokosuka, Sasebo, and Shimoda; visited Sydney, Australia; Singapore; and Pusan, Korea, before returning via Pearl Harbor to San Diego on 26 September.

The ship's second deployment to the Far East took her to Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan; Okinawa; Hong Kong; Guam; the Philippines; and Pearl Harbor, before she returned to San Diego on 16 March 1959.

After returning to San Diego on 29 April 1960, Tulare operated locally in exercises off the west coast, with troop and cargo lifts, until sailing for her fourth deployment to the western Pacific on 19 June 1961.

Following two weeks at Yokosuka, the ship visited Beppu, Japan, and headed for Inchon and Pohang, Korea, to take part in Operation "Sharp Edge", in which she embarked 300 Army troops with their equipment.

En route to the Ryukyus in October, Tulare was designated command ship for search and rescue operations for merchantmen Pioneer Muse and Shiek, both aground off Kito Daito Shima.

Operating in this capacity for two weeks, the attack cargo ship steamed for Subic Bay where she loaded all supplies and ammunition originally earmarked for Iwo Jima.

Then the stepped-up tempo of operations in Southeast Asia resulted in the ship's making two special voyages to Japan and Okinawa carrying troops and equipment.

After being drydocked at Richmond, California, upon her return to the west coast, Tulare conducted training through late September before she got underway for the Hawaiian Islands on 18 October.

She relieved USS Washtenaw County in providing logistic support for Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) Alfa, at Da Nang on 6 December.

From Christmas of 1967, Tulare conducted lifts in support of Marines battling North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces in the vicinity of Huế and Cửa Việt Base.

The ship got underway from San Diego for the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, on 23 March, and arrived there two days later to commence overhaul.

Drydocked from 22 April to 21 May, Tulare emerged from the shipyard on 30 June and got underway for the San Diego operating area and refresher training which lasted until 11 September.

[1] Tulare departed the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet on 14 December 2011 to be cleaned of marine growth and loose exterior paint by Allied Defense Recycling at the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard.