Photo Of The Day – the best online place to view the coolest images of firearms and soldiers. Here we’re aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), watching a live fire exercise somewhere in the Philippine Sea. The handguns are the good old M9 service pistols.

The Vinson is the flagship of Carrier Strike Group ONE, is deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to support an open Indo-Pacific.

Chief Master-at-Arms Brian Cobb, a native of Memphis, Tennessee, fires an M9 service pistol.

Carriers provide a great shooting range, with an infinite backstop.

Master-at-Arms Seaman Apprentice Hampton Kowalkowski, a native of Dayton, Ohio, fires an M9 service pistol. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Joshua Sapien)

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Joshua Sapien)

Reloading the M9 service pistol during a live fire exercise aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70).

Source: U.S. Navy, photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Joshua Sapien.