USS George Washington steams in formation with JMSDF, ROK-N during Freedom Edge 2024

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Aircraft Handling) 3rd Class Airman Kareem Crump, from Chicago, assigned to air department’s flight deck crash and salvage division, directs an aircraft on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) during Freedom Edge 24-2 in the East China Sea, Nov. 13, 2024. Freedom Edge demonstrates a new era of trilateral cooperation to ensure peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific. George Washington is 7th Fleet’s premier forward-deployed aircraft carrier, a long-standing symbol of the United States’ commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, while operating alongside Allies and partners across the U.S. Navy’s largest numbered fleet. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class August Clawson)