STRAIT OF MALACCA (July 23, 2023) Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Thomas Furnish and Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Toi Williams man an M2 .50-caliber machine gun on the flight deck of U.S. 7th Fleet’s flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) while transiting the Strait of Malacca after a brief port visit in Singapore, July 23, 2023. Blue Ridge is the oldest operational ship in the Navy and, as 7th Fleet command ship, routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ben Bellamacina)