Vice Adm. Matthew Nathan, surgeon general of the Navy and chief of the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, meets with medical department sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) during San Francisco Fleet Week 2012. SFFW 12 is scheduled from Oct. 3-8 and brings more than 2,500 sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen from four ships to the city of San Francisco in order to highlight the personnel, technology and capabilities of the sea services. The U.S. Navy has a 237-year heritage of defending freedom, and projecting and protecting U.S. interests around the globe. Join the conversation on social media using #warfighting. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Andrew D. Wiskow)