05/28/2011 This slide show highlights USN operations in counter illicit drug operations in the Pacific. The USN used the new littoral combat ship USS Freedom as a key element in the operation.
[slidepress gallery=’counter-illicit-drug-operations’]
Credit: U.S. Navy Visual News Service
Photo by Lt. Ed Early
4/10/10
- In the first photo, Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Stone, electronics technician, assigned to the littoral combat ship USS Freedom, signals to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to commence refueling operations duringFreedom’s first carrier strike group operations.
- In the second photo, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson passes its refueling probe to the littoral combat ship USS Freedom during Freedom’s first carrier strike group operations.
- In the third photo, a response team of Sailors and U.S. Coast Guardsmen from the littoral combat ship USS Freedom prepares to apprehend a ‘go-fast’ vessel intercepted by Freedom and its embarked MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Freedom seized the vessel and four suspects and recovered one ton of cocaine during counter-illicit trafficking operations in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of responsibility.
- In the fourth photo, the littoral combat ship USS Freedom conducts a tactical exercise in the Pacific Ocean. Freedom is supporting Southern Seas 2010, a U.S. Southern Command-directed operation that provides U.S. and international forces the opportunity to operate in a multi-national environment.
- In the fifth photo, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson flies the battle ensign during a formation exercise. Carl Vinson is supporting Southern Seas 2010, a U.S. Southern Command-directed operation that provides U.S. and international forces the opportunity to operate in a multi-national environment.
- In the sixth photo, an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter assigned to the ‘Sea Knights’ of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22 is pictured flying over the littoral combat ship USS Freedom. Freedom is supporting Southern Seas 2010.
- In the final photo, members of a visit, board, search and seizure team assigned to the littoral combat ship USS Freedom conduct tactical exercises in a rigid-hull inflatable boat.