150713-M-DN141-004 BISMARCK SEA (July 13, 2015) Merchant

150713-M-DN141-004
BISMARCK SEA (July 13, 2015) Merchant Marine Cadet Markus Fountaine, from Tracy, Calif., uses a sextant aboard the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19). Mercy is en route to the Republic of the Philippines for Pacific Partnership 2015. Pacific Partnership is in its 10th iteration and is the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. While training for crisis conditions, Pacific Partnership missions to date have provided real world medical care to approximately 270,000 patients and veterinary services to more than 38,000 animals. Additionally, the mission has provided critical infrastructure development to host nations through more than 180 engineering projects. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Valerie Eppler/Released)