and imposed a "quarantine" on Cuba. Wood County participated in that operation off the Cuban coast which ended after the Soviet Union removed the missiles. Atlantic Fleet, 1963–1964 The warship began the new year 1963 in the familiar tropical climes of the Caribbean but soon sailed for the Mediterranean. During this deployment, she served as part of the 6th Fleet's amphibious strike force and visited Italian, French, and Spanish ports during the course of her tour. She participated in "Operation Southtrap," a NATO exercise in which she embarked and landed 1,000 Turkish troops with their vehicles. Other landing exercises were held with NATO forces in Turkey, Sardinia, Majorca, and Greece. She returned home to Little Creek on 19 October 1963. Following upkeep and type training evolutions, Wood County shifted to Davisville, Rhode Island to load Mobile Construction Battalion (CB or SeaBee) 4. She transported the Seabees to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and carried Mobile CB Battalion 1 from Guantanamo back to Davisville on the return voyage. The following month, the tank landing ship took part in routine Caribbean exercises and, upon completion, took part in a pair of successive Atlantic Fleet amphibious exercises. That summer, in August, Wood County participated in a special balloon-launch in a joint Navy-Air Force project before undergoing overhaul and upkeep at Charleston and Jacksonville, respectively. Dominican intervention, 1965 After a lengthy in-port period, Wood County departed Little Creek in April, 1965 for what promised to be a routine Caribbean deployment. Exercise "Quick Kick VII" took place soon thereafter, before the ship put into San Juan, Puerto Rico to allow the crew liberty. Departing San Juan shortly thereafter, the tank landing ship received urgent orders to sail for the Dominican Republic. There, a coup to return the ousted former president, Juan Bosch, to power, had developed into a bloody civil war when communist elements took control of the pro-Bosch movement to turn it toward their own ends. Heavy fighting developed in and around the capital city of Santo Domingo, prompting President Lyndon B. Johnson to order American marines to the Caribbean isle to halt the coup and protect American lives. Wood County's task was to evacuate American nationals threatened by the strife in the capital city. To do this, the tank landing ship put into Puerto de Haina (nine miles from the center of Santo Domingo) and took on board 415 passengers for passage to Puerto Rico.