Images: Operation Martillo [Image 2 of 2]
Photo by Stuart Phillips Subscribe To This Journalist
U.S. Navy Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Joshua Singleton, center, acts as the landing signalman enlisted as Boatswain's Mate Seaman Elleston Taylor, left, and Logistics Specialist Seaman Michael Spears display the chocks and chains removed from an SH-60B Seahawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 48 to the helicopter pilots on the flight deck of the guided missile frigate USS Underwood (FFG 36) in the Caribbean Sea Oct. 22, 2012. Underwood was deployed to Central and South America and the Caribbean in support of Operation Martillo and Southern Seas 2012. Operation Martillo is a joint, interagency and multinational collaborative effort to deny transnational criminal organizations air and maritime access to the littoral regions of the Central American isthmus. Southern Seas is a U.S. Southern Command-directed operation designed to strengthen relationships with regional partner nations and improve operational readiness for all assigned units. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Stuart Phillips/Released)