The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) departs San Diego Oct.6, to the U.S. 7th and 5th Fleet areas of responsibility in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts.

About 7,500 Sailors and Marines with the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group left San Diego Friday morning heading for the western Pacific and Middle East.

The aircraft carrier will join three guided missile destroyers – USS Halsey (DDG-97), USS Sampson (DDG-102) and USS Preble (DDG-88) – for what officials described as “a routine deployment.”

“The U.S. Navy carrier strike group is the most versatile, capable force at sea,” Rear Adm. Steve Koehler, who commands Carrier Strike Group 9, said in a statement. “After nearly a year of training and integration exercises, the entire team is ready as a warfighting force and ready to carry out the nation’s tasking.”

In this video: Sailors man the rails aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, and flight deck flight operations.