SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — Sailors aboard the USS Germantown conducted man overboard recovery drills Thursday while patrolling in the western Pacific following international exercises in Australia last month.

The drills aboard the Sasebo-based amphibious dock-landing ship consisted of deploying a search-and-rescue swimmer into the sea to retrieve a dummy and bringing it back to safety, Navy officials said. Man overboard drills are conducted at least twice a month while the ship is under way, officials said.

“Man overboard drills are done so that every sailor and Marine knows where to muster and be accounted for in case of an actual man overboard,” said ship spokeswoman Petty Officer 2nd Class Eva-Marie Ramsaran.

Talisman Sabre 2011 ended last month and featured some 14,000 U.S. servicemembers, in addition to Australian and Canadian servicemembers. The USS Germantown was a key component of a simulated beach assault on July 19.

The ship has been underway since departing Sasebo on June 24.

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