 A wooden ship of 224 feet may be small compared to a carrier more than a thousand feet long, but that doesn't stop minesweepers in Saasibo from doing big things. Mine countermeasureships USS Warrior and USS Patriot plan to meet the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, or JMSDF, in northern Japan to start the bilateral mine warfare exercise, 2JA. The whole reason we're here is to be interoperable with the regional allies to include our host nation Japan. So we're very excited about that. First off, let me tell you how proud I am of the crews of both Patriot and Warrior as they get underway today for extended operations. It's definitely a testament to their hard work in both maintenance and training to get to this point. Warrior and Patriot will continue patrolling the 7th Fleet area of responsibility after the exercise, working in Japanese and Korean waters. I'm Christina Coffey, Fleet Activities Saasibo, Japan.