Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 hosted distinguished visitors from India and Sri Lanka on April 17 and 19 respectively.

Included among the visitors were U.S. Ambassador to India Richard Verma, Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy Vice Adm. Jayantha Perera, Sri Lanka's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera, and Sri Lanka's State Minister of Defense Ruwan Wijewardane.

"This was amazing and an extraordinary opportunity for us to see first hand the enormity and complex set of flight operations," said Samaraweera. "This is something we have only seen in films before."

The guests were sponsored by U.S. 7th Fleet and embarked Carl Vinson to get a better understanding of U.S. aircraft carrier operations at sea.

While on board Carl Vinson, they were able to view flight operations and tour various parts of the ship while interacting with Sailors.

"Visits like these are impressive and incredibly informative," said Andrew Mann, charge d' affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka. "It really helped our Sri Lankan Navy counterparts understand the power that this aircraft carrier can project and what it is able to achieve."

Carl Vinson deployed from San Diego in August of 2014 and is currently operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the region.