From left, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112), Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler USNS John Ericsson (T-AO 194), Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane (DDG 77), Wasp-class landing helicopter dock USS Essex (LHD 2), Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52), and Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Alan Shephard (T-AKE 3) transit the South China Sea, Jan. 13, 2022. Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group (VINCSG) and Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ESX ARG) are conducting joint expeditionary strike force operations in the South China Sea as part of continuing and routine interoperability training operations in the Indo-Pacific region