Sailors aboard a Naval Special Warfare rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB) practice coming alongside the amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) during routine small boat training.
Mesa Verde is part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and, with the embarked 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.
USS Mesa Verde is the third San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock and the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. The ship is designed to deliver a fully equipped battalion of up to 800 Marines. She was launched on 19 November 2004, and commissioned on 15 December 2007 in Panama City, Florida.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, August 29, 2014; Image: U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Phylicia A. Hanson