Shifted to Todd Shipyards of Hoboken, New Jersey, for conversion to an attack transport, the ship was decommissioned on 22 July for the duration of the yard period.

After transiting the canal, the attack transport pushed on for the Hawaiian Islands and reached Pearl Harbor on 14 March.

After training in Hawaiian waters, the ship returned to the west coast at the end of May for voyage repairs at San Pedro, California.

Westmoreland subsequently conducted one round-trip voyage between Pearl Harbor and San Francisco in July and then spent most of the first half of the month of August on exercises and further training in Hawaiian waters.

Although Westmoreland had been commissioned too late to participate in combat against the Japanese in the Pacific, she nevertheless did take part in the massive reverse movement of men back to the United States, Operation Magic Carpet.