After returning to port, "Kitkun Bay" took on Composite Squadron 5 (VC-5) on 8 March. She then conducted pilot qualifications off the southern California coast, from 7 to 17 March. During these qualifications, the former destroyer, now seaplane tender, kept watch. After a brief return to port, where VC-5 was unloaded for further training, she conducted additional pilot qualifications for a variety of squadrons throughout the end of March. From 1 to 27 April, the carrier was moored at Naval Base San Diego, where maintenance and repairs were conducted. During this period, Rear Admiral Harold Bushnell Salada, the commander of Carrier Division 26, went aboard "Kitkun Bay", assigning the carrier as his flagship.