UMM QASR, Iraq (Aug. 13, 2008) Lt. Cmdr. Trent Thompson, commanding officer of the coastal patrol boat USS Firebolt (PC 10), greets senior Iraqi naval officers on the pier after the boat arrives in Umm Qasr as part of Iraq Navy Day celebrations. Firebolt is the first U.S. ship to visit Iraq in more than 15 months. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Nathan Christensen/Released)
PACIFIC OCEAN (Aug. 13, 2008) Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Samson Kattil, from Hawaii, pipes the ship's whistle from the pilothouse of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Howard (DDG 83) into the 1MC before passing a message informing the crew of the conclusion of a counter-measure wash down. Howard and the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group are on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility operating in the western Pacific and Indian oceans. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Joshua Scott/Released)
POPONDETTA, Papua New Guinea (Aug. 13, 2008) Popondetta villagers greet Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133 with flowers as the Seabees march to the Isivini Secondary School. Members of NMCB-133 and the Papua New Guinea Defense Force Engineering Battalion worked side-by-side to construct and renovate one school building, two clinics and two other water catchment systems as part of a Pacific Partnership 2008 civil engineering project. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Mark Logico/Released)