PACIFIC OCEAN (Dec. 7, 2022) Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Jeffrey Brooks walks across the flight deck as an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23 flies away following flight operations aboard Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Montgomery (LCS 8), Dec. 7, 2022. Montgomery, along with San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Portland (LPD 27), is underway off the coast of Southern California in U.S. 3rd Fleet in support of the NASA Artemis I Orion spacecraft recovery. The retrieval operation is part of a Department of Defense effort that integrates combatant command and service capabilities to determine best practices for safely retrieving spacecraft capable of carrying humans into space. Montgomery, homeported in San Diego, has flexible surface warfare capabilities that make it an ideal partner to support NASA, including its 11-meter rigid-hull inflatable boat and large mission bay. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Lily Gebauer)