INDIAN OCEAN (Dec. 30, 2020) Retail Services Specialist 2nd Class Luke Matheny, from San Diego, is steadied as he fires a .50-caliber machine gun during a live-fire exercise aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104). Sterett is part of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group and is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and Pacific Ocean through the western Indian Ocean and three critical chokepoints to the free flow of global commerce. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Drace Wilson)