Marines with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit watch the scenery from an observation deck as the USS New York sails through the Straits of Gibraltar, Dec. 6, 2012. The 24th MEU is deployed with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group in the 6th Fleet area of responsibility as an expeditionary crisis response force capable of a variety of missions from full-scale combat to evacuations and humanitarian assistance.