Recommissioned Again As A Training Ship
After making weekend reserve cruises through the summer of 1961, Tills was recommissioned on 1 October 1961 in response to the Cuban missile crisis (blockade) with Lt. Comdr.W. L. Rich, USNR, in command. Following a six-week repair period at Newport, Rhode Island, and refresher training in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the ship operated out of her home port of Norfolk, Virginia.
After the crisis situation eased, Tills returned to her erstwhile home port of Portland, Maine, on 12 July 1962, and was decommissioned there on 1 August 1962. Attached to Reserve Destroyer Squadron 30 and Reserve Destroyer Escort Squadron, 1st Naval District, Tills operated out of Portland, Maine, in an in-service basis and resumed making weekend reserve training cruises. On these brief voyages, she conducted antisubmarine exercises and steamed up and down the St. Lawrence Seaway. Moving to Newport, Rhode Island, on 20 October 1963, the ship underwent a one-month tender availability during which she received new torpedo tubes which replaced her old ones and her K-guns. She returned to Portland on 17 November and remained there for the remainder of the year.
During 1964, Tills participated in a number of diverse and interesting events. After a tender availability alongside Grand Canyon (AD-28) from 22 March to 18 April, Tills returned to the Naval Reserve Training Center at South Portland, Maine, before getting underway for Boston on 13 June. A highlight of her reserve cruise was a four-day visit to the New York World's Fair.
After returning to her Maine base, the ship held an open house on 4 July and then visited Rockland, Maine, for the annual Rockland Seafood Festival on 3 August. On 28 August, Tills served as patrol ship for the annual Starboat Yacht Races off Winthrop, Massachusetts.
After subsequently participating in joint United States-Canadian antisubmarine exercises, the ship returned to the Naval Training Center at Portland for repairs before resuming her training cruises, a mission she faithfully carried out for the remainder of her career.
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