An American flag hangs from the ceiling next to a series of training ropes that hover over the pool inside the Aviation Technical Training Center on Coast Guard Base Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Dec. 18, 2019. The ropes are a part of the physically demanding course that rescue swimmers have to undergo in order to become Aviation Survival Technicians upon graduation from the program. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of Seaman Katlin Kilroy)