130602-N-PD773-148

Image by SurfaceWarriors
130602-N-PD773-148 SINGAPORE (June 2, 2013) Electronics Technician 1st Class Rachel Preston, left, assigned to USS Freedom (LCS 1) talks with the 24th Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) the Honorable Chuck Hagel in the airborne mission zone of her ship. Hagel visited Freedom during his trip to Singapore for the 2013 Shangri-La Dialogue. Freedom is in Singapore as part of a deployment to Southeast Asia. Fast, agile and mission-focused, littoral combat ships are designed to operate in near-shore environments and employ modular mission packages that can be configured for surface warfare, mine countermeasures, or anti-submarine warfare. Freedom is home-ported in San Diego. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Cassandra Thompson/Released)