On her 1953-1954 cruise to the Far East, "Ajax", in addition to her operations out of Sasebo and Yokosuka, participated in the two-month operation "Passage to Freedom", providing support for a group of U.S. Navy ships sent to carry refugees from the Hanoi/Haiphong area of Communist North Vietnam, down to Saigon. During this operation Ajax was stationed at Touraine Indochina, a French port that later became DaNang, South Vietnam. She returned to San Diego on 21 November 1954, along with several attack transports. "Ajax" returned from the United States to Japan in February 1960 and in June received orders changing her home port from San Diego to Sasebo. She then became the permanent flagship of ServRon 3 in the Far East. She moved to Yokosuka in August to begin her first yard overhaul in the Orient. Among her alterations was the installation of flag office spaces for ServRon 3 staff. Following refresher training, underway replenishment, and towing exercises with , "Ajax" returned to Sasebo on 17 December. Early in 1961, she became an ambassador of goodwill on a cruise in which she entertained local dignitaries as well as the local populace during visits to Kure, Beppu, Kagoshima, Iwakuni, and Kobe, Japan; Hong Kong; Keelung and Kaoshiung, Taiwan; Subic Bay; and Buckner Bay, Okinawa. A scheduled two-day visit to the last port became a three-week stay in March and April when "Ajax" remained there as backup repair ship in the event that President John F. Kennedy's strong diplomatic resistance to communist aggression in Laos would involve the American Navy in hostilities. When , the first nuclear submarine to put into a Japanese port, arrived at Sasebo on 12 November 1964, "Ajax" served as a press platform for radio and television reporters who came to report the event. On 10 January 1968, "Ajax" sailed for Subic Bay where she remained until mid-March, before returning to her home port. On 3 June, the repair ship headed for South Vietnam and arrived at Vung Tau on 9 June. Although that port was a rest and recreation center for the allied forces, "Ajax" worked without break for 13 days making badly needed repairs and providing services to ships and small craft operating in the Mekong Delta, as well as to various Army and Air Force equipment ashore.