SUVA, Fiji (June 10, 2015) Lt. j.g. Jomer Belisario, a disbursing officer from Sacramento, Calif., takes a selfie with Fijian students at Hilton Special School during Pacific Partnership 2015. Fiji is Mercy’s first mission port of PP15. Pacific Partnership is in its tenth iteration and is the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. While training for crisis conditions, Pacific Partnership missions to date have provided real world medical care to approximately 270,000 patients and veterinary services to more than 38,000 animals. Additionally, the mission has provided official infrastructure development to host nations through more than 180 engineering projects. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Peter Reft/RELEASED)U.S. Marine Cpl. Nathan Kraus fast-ropes aboard the USS Essex (LHD 2) in the South China Sea, June 11, 2015. Kraus is a member of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Maritime Raid Force. The MRF uses fast roping during visit, board, search, and seizure missions and precision ground raids when inserting from a helicopter. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Anna Albrecht/Released)A U.S. Sailor with the Essex Amphibious Ready Group loads an Indonesia boy onto a watercraft to be transported to an Indonesian coast guard vessel from the USS Rushmore (LSD 47) in the Pacific Ocean, June 11, 2015. Rushmore rendered assistance to the distressed mariners in the waters between the Indonesian islands of Kalimantan and Sulawesi. Once on board, the mariners were provided food and medical attention by Marines and Sailors of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Essex Amphibious Ready Group. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Emmanuel Ramos/Released)U.S. Marines with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit sort through mail aboard the USS Essex (LHD 2) in the South China Sea, June 10, 2015. Marines and Sailors aboard the USS Essex helped sort through hundreds of pieces of mail from friends and family members. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Anna Albrecht/Released)French Marine Col. Jean-Bruno Despouys, 5th Marines commanding officer, pins a National Defense Medal on U.S. Army Sgt. Robert Hames during an award ceremony at a Naval base in Djibouti, June 11, 2015, due to his life-saving medical care to a French service member during a catastrophic motor vehicle accident in February. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Maria Bowman)150610-N-RU971-049
EAST CHINA SEA (June 10, 2015) – Senior Chief Boatswain's Mate Demetris Artis, from York, Ala., supervises line heaving by Marines, assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (31st MEU), during a replenishment at sea (RAS) aboard the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6). Bonhomme Richard is the lead ship of the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group (BHRARG), comprised of USS Green Bay (LPD 20), USS Ashland (LSD 48) and embarked 31st MEU, assigned to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (U.S Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Cameron McCulloch/ Released)ARLINGTON, VA - JUNE 11: U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter (2nd L) and Gen. Fan Changlong (L), Vice Chairman of the Chinese Central Military Commission of People's Liberation Army, listen to the U.S. national anthem as they participate in an honor cordon June 11, 2015 at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Secretary Carter held the honor cordon to welcome Vice Chairman Fan to visit the Pentagon. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)150610-N-YB023-392 PHILIPPINE SEA (June 10, 2015) Sailors participate in a live-fire exercise aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). George Washington and its embarked air wing, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, are on patrol in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. George Washington will conduct a hull-swap with the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) later this year after serving seven years as the U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Japan. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Clemente A. Lynch/Released)Geraldine Birch, left, displays a tattoo of her son Corporal Marc Birch killed in Afghanistan after a Service of Dedication to inaugurate the Bastion Memorial, and remember those who lost their lives during combat operations in Afghanistan, at the National Arboretum, Alrewas, England, Thursday, June 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
