SOUTH CHINA SEA (June 16, 2023) Operations Specialist 2nd Class Christopher Ignacio, from Ventura, California, speaks through a sound-powered telephone aboard the U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), before a fueling-at-sea with the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls (CG 62) in the South China Sea, June 16, 2023. Ronald Reagan, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States, and supports alliances, partnerships and collective maritime interests in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Louis Thompson Staats IV)