Airman Alex Rogers from Orcas Island is a plane captain trainee on the South China sea.

He is pictured here in the hangar bay of the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76).

“It’s hard work,” said Rogers. “When I was working nights my day would start with watching the sun set and end as the sun rose. It was eye opening and rewarding to see how long our hours were and to know we accomplished a task.”

Ronald Reagan, the Carrier Strike Group Five (CSG 5) flagship, is on patrol in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

Rogers graduated from Orcas Island High School in 2015.