Overview
- U.S. Navy photographs confirm the carrier fired its Phalanx Close-In Weapon System during live-fire training on Jan. 8.
- Stars and Stripes reports the ship has operated in the South China Sea since at least Dec. 26 and was still there as of Friday.
- An MH-60S from HSC-14 conducted a replenishment-at-sea with USNS Cesar Chavez on Jan. 7 to sustain ongoing operations.
- The deployment has included flight operations by the F-35C, the carrier-based variant of the Joint Strike Fighter.
- The strike group fields Carrier Air Wing 3 and the destroyers USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., USS Spruance, and USS Michael Murphy as part of 7th Fleet patrols.