"Point Defiance" again departed for the western Pacific on 27 March 1966, and began transporting troops and equipment from U.S. bases in the Far East to South Vietnam. She returned to Long Beach on 24 June, but deployed to South Vietnam again on 1 November. On 11 January 1967 "Point Defiance" participated in "Deckhouse V", a major U.S. operation in the Kien Hoa area. On 18 May she sent U.S. Marines on to the beach in the southern half of the Demilitarized Zone, exchanging fire with North Vietnamese shore batteries. She returned to Long Beach on 24 June.