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Caption:
Gulf of Mexico (Aug. 11, 2005) -- Sailors assigned to Helicopter Mine
Countermeasures Squadron Fourteen (HM-14) and (HM-15), prepare Rigid
Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIB) and MK-105 Magnetic Influence Minesweeping
System sleds for launch in the well deck of the amphibious assault ship
USS Bataan (LHD 5). Bataan, HM-15 and HM-14 are making history,
conducting the sled operations from the well deck of the ship for only
the third time in history and for the first time while the ship was
underway. Bataan and embarked company are underway for PANAMAX 2005.
PANAMAX is a training exercise in defense of the Panama Canal involving
15 countries. The Panama Canal is critical to the free flow of trade
and goods in the Western Hemisphere and the entire world. The region's
economy and stability largely depend on the safe transport of several
hundred million tons of cargo that transit through the canal every
year. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Ken J. Riley
(RELEASED)
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