Amphibious assault ship USS Boxer's (LHD 4) Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) hosted a steel beach picnic packed with games, food, and music on the flight deck, May 14.

Sailors and Marines enjoyed a day of down time with barbecued food, sports, dancing, and live music, performed by the ship's band, "River City."

"It means so much to them, I heard so many people talk about getting ready for this event," said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Trenton Hagley, Boxer's MWR president. "I think it shows that the chain of command is very responsive and that they're paying attention to their people. Everybody needs a good reset, to get them back in the game."

Sports and games, such as basketball, soccer, sumo wrestling and corn hole were offered on the flight deck during the picnic to provide the crew with a chance to have some fun and socialize.

"This event is a huge one," said Brian Rockenbach, Boxer's Afloat Recreation Specialist or "Fun Boss". "This is going to get us over the hill of a long underway period like we just had. We have 10 separate events we're hosting today."

The steel beach picnic also offered the crew a chance to relax together outside their routine functions while deployed.

"It's nice to finally have all of our hard work pay off and give us time to relax," said Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Stephanie Putman. "Many of us work different shifts so we finally get to see everybody for a change."

The crew's performance for the previous month and a half was recognized by command leadership during the festivities.

Boxer's Command Master Chief Matt Ruane, said "For the last 45 days, Sailors and Marines have performed phenomenally and they deserve this downtime."

Boxer is the flagship for the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and, with the embarked 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.
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