Into 1969, Lexington operated out of her home port, Pensacola, as well as Corpus Christi and New Orleans, qualifying student aviators and maintaining the high state of training of both active duty and reserve naval aviators. Her work became of increasing significance as she prepared the men vital to the Navy and Marine Corps operations over Vietnam, where naval aviation played a major role. Lexington marked her 200,000th arrested landing on 17 October 1967, and was redesignated CVT-16 on 1 January 1969. She continued as a training carrier for the next 22 years until decommissioned and struck on 8 November 1991.
On 29 October 1989, a student Naval Aviator lost control of his T-2 training aircraft after an aborted attempt to land on Lexington's flight deck. The aircraft impacted the island with its right wing, killing 5 crew members (including the pilot of the plane), and another 15 were injured. The island suffered no major damage, and fires from the burning fuel were extinguished within 15 minutes.[11][12]
Lexington was the final Essex-class carrier in commission, after USS Oriskany (CV-34) had been decommissioned in 1976

The year ended with Forrestal making advanced preparations for a change of homeport to Pensacola, Florida, and the transition into a new role as the Navy's training carrier, replacing USS Lexington. Forrestal was redesignated AVT-59 and arrived in Pensacola on 4 February. The ship and crew returned to New Orleans for a visit in May, 1992. Forrestal arrived in Philadelphia 14 September 1992 to begin a 14-month, $157 million complex overhaul prior to assuming duties as a training carrier. In early 1993, however, the Navy decided to decommission Forrestal and leave the Navy without a dedicated training carrier.