USS Mustin conducts flight ops in Indian Ocean

U.S. Navy Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Jessica Howard, left, from Georgia, braces Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Justice House, from Montana, while Seaman Apprentice Jadon Newman, from New Mexico, stands by with chocks and chains as an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter, assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 46, takes off from the flight deck aboard Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG 89) during flight operations while underway in the Indian Ocean, July 15, 2026. Mustin is forward deployed and assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest DESRON and U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force. U.S. 7th Fleet, the Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Dimal)