Photos

230322-N-CO784-1389

ATLANTIC OCEAN (March 22, 2023) Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Irene Laurel, from San Antonio, temporarily assigned to the first-in-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) medical department, from the Ford-class aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), performs a microscopic examination of urinary sediment in the medical laboratory, March 22, 2023. Ford is underway in the Atlantic Ocean executing its Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX), an intense, multi-week exercise designed to fully integrate a carrier strike group as a cohesive, multi-mission fighting force and to test their ability to carry out sustained combat operations from the sea. As the first-in-class ship of Ford-class aircraft carriers, CVN 78 represents a generational leap in the U.S. Navy's capacity to project power on a global scale. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nolan Pennington)