SOUTH CHINA SEA (March 12, 2024) Quartermaster 3rd Class Krosavanh Phongphet, left, from Sacramento, Calif., and Quartermaster Seaman Apprentice Saraya Phillips, from Newark, N.J., pull down signal flags aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), March 12, 2024. Theodore Roosevelt, flagship of Carrier Strike Group Nine, is underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy's largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and 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 Seaman Richard Tinker)