SOUTH CHINA SEA (April 9, 2021) - Chief Warrant Officer Gilberto Cruz, left, poses for a picture with his son, Operations Specialist Seaman Geovanni Cruz, aboard amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8). Geovanni, from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), surprised his father with the visit, while the two ships operated near each other in the South China Sea. As the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed fleet, 7th Fleet routinely operates and interacts with 35 maritime nations while conducting missions to preserve and protect a free and open Indo-Pacific Region.