USS George Washington, At Sea (NNS) - USS George Washington (CVN 73) welcomed four Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) dignitaries aboard the ship on Nov. 29, during the second day of a naval exercise in the series announced at the 2-plus-2 meetings in July with Republic of Korea (ROK) naval forces.

The four NNSC members are delegates in the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC) and were aboard George Washington to observe the four-day naval exercise in waters west of the Korean peninsula. The exercise includes training opportunities that develop all areas of preparedness including fleet readiness, air defense, logistics, enhancing communications and subject matter exchanges.

"We are conducting routine operations in international waters, demonstrating our commitment to the Republic of Korea (ROK) and to improve the interoperability and readiness of both Republic of Korea and US forces, and our collective commitment to security and stability across the Pacific region," said Commander, Task Force 70 Rear Adm. Dan Cloyd. "These operations strengthen deterrence against North Korea. None of our operations involve live fire exercises."

We are training and working together to prepare ourselves for any number of missions, from the types you are seeing here today, as well as humanitarian assistance or disaster response missions that we may conduct anywhere in the region." Cloyd said.

More than two dozen ROK navy officers are also on board George Washington working side-by-side with U.S. Navy counterparts, along with six ROK navy ships coordinating and conducting naval training evolutions with George Washington Carrier Strike Group.

The exercise includes the aircraft carrier George Washington, with an embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5; the cruiser USS Cowpens (CG 63); and the destroyers USS Lassen (DDG 82), USS Stethem (DDG 63) and the USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62); along with ROK navy ships. The United States notified China, Japan and other nations in the region of the exercise that is taking place in international waters.

For more news from Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/c7f/.