PACIFIC OCEAN (Sept. 19, 2012) The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Cowpens (CG 63) fires its Phalanx close-in weapons system (CIWS) during a weapons test while underway. Cowpens is part of the George Washington Carrier Strike Group, the U.S. Navy’s only forward deployed carrier strike group based out of Yokosuka, Japan and is currently conducting a routine Western Pacific patrol. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Paul Kelly/Released)