ATLANTIC OCEAN (March 23, 2023) Machinist’s Mate Fireman Matthew Johnston, from Sycamore, Illinois, operates the plasma arc waste destruction system (PAWDS) aboard the first-in-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), March 23, 2023. Gerald R. Ford is underway in the Atlantic Ocean executing its Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX), an intense, multi-week exercise designed to fully integrate a carrier strike group as a cohesive, multi-mission fighting force and to test their ability to carry out sustained combat operations from the sea. As the first-in-class ship of Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, CVN 78 represents a generational leap in the U.S. Navy’s capacity to project power on a global scale. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Darien G. Kenney)