Visit, board, search and seizure team member Sonar Technician 2nd Class Kim Ditzel, attached to the guided-missile destroyer USS Preble, patrols with an M240 machine gun mounted on the front of the ship's rigid hull inflatable boat. Interaction Patrols are an element of maritime operations and are conducted in Iraqi territorial waters so that commercial shipping and fishing can occur safely in the region. Preble, as part of John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group, is conducting maritime operations in the Persian Gulf.