FRIDAY FOTO (September 11, 2015)

Watery Exit.

U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon Cyr

This is not a photo of a flooded underground parking garage. This is actually the inside of a Navy ship: the amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans.

Here we see Seaman Elana Hunter, a boatswain’s mate, signaling Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs) to launch from the ship’s well deck during Exercise Dawn Blitz 2015 in the Pacific Ocean off the California Coast. The well deck is where amphibious vehicles like these AAVs, first meet the sea as they head down a ramp in the amphib’s rear (stern) that opens out onto open water. (See photo below)

Dawn Blitz is a Navy and Marine Corps training exercise to practice amphibious task force operations while also building interoperability between U.S. and coalition forces, which this year, include military units from Japan, Mexico and New Zealand. The New Orleans is a San Antonio class amphib.

What the AAV crews see heading out the back of the USS New Orleans.
(U.S. Navy photo)