Ten days were allotted for this work, then she loaded with a cargo of food at San Francisco and received her first set of combat sailing orders – telling her merely to "Proceed Pearl Harbor". Upon arriving at Pearl Harbor, the cargo was dispatched and its place was taken by a "human cargo" of hundreds of Seabees. "Neshoba" was instructed to sail for the Philippine Islands, stopping off at Eniwetok, Ulithi, and Palau on the way. After twenty days at sea, "Neshoba" arrived in Leyte Gulf on 20 February 1945. The Seabees were taken off and brought into Samar Island. While at Leyte Gulf, "Neshoba" was designated as the flagship of Commander Transport Division Forty Two, Captain Edwin T. Short, USN. Preparations were underway at this time for the eventual invasion and occupation of Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Islands.