 On 1 July 1974, the tug was decommissioned and turned over to the Military Sealift Command (MSC).Operating with a civil service crew, USNS "Atakapa" (T-ATF-149) continued to support the Navy carrying out MSC missions for another seven years.During the summer of 1981, she was taken out of service and prepared for transfer to the Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet.