Seaman Andrew Mitchell flips a mooring line off the

Seaman Andrew Mitchell flips a mooring line off the starboard capstan of the amphibious transport dock ship USS Ponce as Ponce ties up in Morehead City, N.C., for its first landfall in the U.S. following a nearly nine-month deployment. Ponce is in Morehead City to offload the elements of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment that had been embarked aboard the ship. Ponce was operating as part of the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility.