UNITAS 2022

EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN – Culinary Specialist Seaman Kobe Norfleet and Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Simone Jones, both with the Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), attach a hook to an MH-60S Sea Hawk during a vertical replenishment on the flight deck of the Gabrielle Giffords Nov. 25, 2020. A VERTREP is part of a replenishment at sea evolution, where supplies are transported to a ship at sea with the use of an aircraft. The Gabrielle Giffords is deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of responsibility to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter illicit drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. U.S. Marines with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South embarked aboard the Gabrielle Giffords for a three-week assessment to support naval integration and interoperability between the U.S. Marine Corps with the U.S. Navy. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Camila Melendez)