Lt. j.g. Casey Strouse, from Kalkaska, Mich., checks if it is clear for an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter, attached to the Tridents of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 9, to leave the area of the flight deck aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51).
Arleigh Burke is deployed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts.
The USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), named for Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN (1901–1996), is the lead ship of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers. She was laid down by the Bath Iron Works company at Bath, Maine, on 6 December 1988, and launched on 16 September 1989 by Mrs. Arleigh Burke. The Admiral himself was present at her commissioning ceremony on 4 July 1991, which was held on the waterfront in downtown Norfolk, Virginia.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, July 07, 2014; Image: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Carlos M. Vazquez II