Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. (December 6, 2023): Sailors and Marines always enjoy a friendly competition, this time involving cake decorating. In this photo by MC1 Justin Kemble, Interior Communications Electrician 2nd Class Paola Diaz, left, and Retail Specialist Seaman Nadya Lowder, right, decorate a gingerbread house on the mess deck aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp. The thousand plus crew and the roughly 2,200 embarking troops of the Wasp are in Norfolk for Amphibious Squadron/Marine Expeditionary Unit Integration training. The program teaches Sailors and Marines, many of whom have never deployed aboard ships, how to load and offload personnel and equipment while adjusting to life at sea.

Embarking onto multiple ships and deploying these assets from ship to shore is an extremely complicated task involving intense planning and coordination. The Wasp is specifically designed to accommodate the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) for fast troop movement over the beach. She also carries the stealthy Harrier II Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing jets for close air support for the assault force. She can also accommodate the full range of Navy and Marine Corps helicopters, the tiltrotor MV-22 Osprey, the F-35B Lightning II multi-role fighter, conventional landing craft, and amphibious vehicles.

The talented crew of the Wasp have many responsibilities, but it is nice sometimes to take a gingerbread break, especially during the holidays.