Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Erick M. Post and the other sailors of the USS Harry S. Truman departed Wednesday for a final pre-deployment sustainment exercise.

Post is a 1995 Sumner High School alumnus and son of Buckley man Richard Post.

Sustainment exercises — called SUSTAINEX — maintain a strike group’s operational proficiencies, so the strike group can meet the Navy’s needs on deployment.

Truman departed Naval Station Norfolk with Carrier Air Wing 3 and 1st Combined Destroyer Squadron staff on board, joined by the guided-missile cruisers USS San Jacinto, USS Gettysburg and guided-missile destroyers USS Bulkeley and USS Mason.