The guided missile destroyer USS Truxtun (DDG 103), foreground, transits the Arabian Gulf behind the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) Oct. 3, 2014. The ships were deployed as part of the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group to support maritime security operations, strike operations in Iraq and Syria as directed, and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. President Barack Obama authorized humanitarian aid deliveries to Iraq as well as targeted airstrikes to protect U.S. personnel from extremists known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. U.S. Central Command directed the operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Scott Barnes/Released)