200624-N-ML137-1021 PHILIPPINE SEA (June 24, 2020) Operations Specialist Seaman John Rice, from Temecula, California, monitors the ship’s position in the pilot house of the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) during a replenishment-at-sea with the dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Alan Shepard (T-AKE 3). Ronald Reagan’s ability to conduct replenishment-at-sea provides the strike group with a tactical advantage of sustained operational presence. Ronald Reagan, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the collective maritime interests of its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Samantha Jetzer/Released)