The guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville and the guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley participate in a passing exercise with Royal Thai Navy frigate HTMS Bangpakong. The PASSEX follows a nearly week-long port visit to Phuket. The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is on a routine deployment in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility. Operating in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean, the U.S. 7th Fleet is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, covering 52 million square miles, with approximately 50 ships, 120 aircraft and 20,000 Sailors and Marines assigned at any given time.