Stories

Thai Military Instructors speak to U.S., Thai and Korean Marines during a jungle survival training course Feb. 12, 2015, at Camp Lotawin, Kingdom of Thailand. The course is designed to give the military members necessary skills to survive in the jungle and brings the three groups together to foster friendships. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joshua Murray) - Thai Military Instructors speak to U.S., Thai and Korean Marines during a jungle survival training course Feb. 12, 2015, at Camp Lotawin, Kingdom of Thailand. The course is designed to give the military members necessary skills to survive in the jungle and brings the three groups together to foster friendships. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joshua Murray)

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Fuentes, a hospitalman with Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 teaches an English lesson to local kids in the district of Khok Samrong, Lop Buri province, Kingdom of Thailand, Feb. 10, 2015. MWSS-171, along with members of the Royal Thai Army and Malaysian Army, is in the process of building a multipurpose structure for the local school as part of Exercise Cobra Gold 2015. CG 15 is a combined-forces exercise taking place across Thailand from Feb. 9-20 and is designed to advance regional security and ensure effective responses to crises in the region. It includes a specific focus on humanitarian civic action, community engagement and medical activities to support the needs and humanitarian interests of the civilian population around the region. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo By Cpl. Ricardo Hurtado / Released) - Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Fuentes, a hospitalman with Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 teaches an English lesson to local kids in the district of Khok Samrong, Lop Buri province, Kingdom of Thailand, Feb. 10, 2015. MWSS-171, along with members of the Royal Thai Army and Malaysian Army, is in the process of building a multipurpose structure for the local school as part of Exercise Cobra Gold 2015. CG 15 is a combined-forces exercise taking place across Thailand from Feb. 9-20 and is designed to advance regional security and ensure effective responses to crises in the region. It includes a specific focus on humanitarian civic action, community engagement and medical activities to support the needs and humanitarian interests of the civilian population around the region. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo By Cpl. Ricardo Hurtado / Released)

Local Thai military members listen as a Thai translator explains how to properly treat a patient for a sucking chest wound at a Tactical Casualty Care Course on Feb. 11, 2015 at Camp Samaesan, Kingdom of Thailand. The course is part of exercise Cobra Gold 2015, an annual exercise designed to advance regional security and ensure effective responses to regional crisis. - Local Thai military members listen as a Thai translator explains how to properly treat a patient for a sucking chest wound at a Tactical Casualty Care Course on Feb. 11, 2015 at Camp Samaesan, Kingdom of Thailand. The course is part of exercise Cobra Gold 2015, an annual exercise designed to advance regional security and ensure effective responses to regional crisis.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, left, commandant of the Marine Corps, greets I Marine Expeditionary Force key personnel aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Feb. 10. The commandant also spoke with commanders, noncommissioned officers and junior Marines during his visit. - Gen. Joseph Dunford, left, commandant of the Marine Corps, greets I Marine Expeditionary Force key personnel aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Feb. 10. The commandant also spoke with commanders, noncommissioned officers and junior Marines during his visit.

Representatives of participating countries link hands during the Cobra Gold 15 opening ceremony at the Armed Forces Academy Preparatory School in Nakhon Nayok, Thailand, on Feb. 9, 2015. Exercise Cobra Gold provides a platform for participating partner militaries to promote regional prosperity, security and cooperation among participating nations, which include Thailand, the U.S., Singapore, Japan, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and the People’s Republic of China as well as observers from other countries in the Pacific. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Christopher J. Moore/Released) - Representatives of participating countries link hands during the Cobra Gold 15 opening ceremony at the Armed Forces Academy Preparatory School in Nakhon Nayok, Thailand, on Feb. 9, 2015. Exercise Cobra Gold provides a platform for participating partner militaries to promote regional prosperity, security and cooperation among participating nations, which include Thailand, the U.S., Singapore, Japan, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and the People’s Republic of China as well as observers from other countries in the Pacific. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Christopher J. Moore/Released)

Sergeant Maj. Ronald Green, (left) Sgt. Major Bradley Kasal, and Lt. Gen. David H. Berger, I Marine Expeditionary Force commanding general, salute Marines of I MEF and they march in review during a relief and appointment ceremony aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Feb. 4, 2015. During the ceremony, the Marines bid farewell to Green as he prepares to assume his new post as the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, and welcomed Kasal as the new I MEF sergeant major. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Christopher J. Moore/Released) - Sergeant Maj. Ronald Green, (left) Sgt. Major Bradley Kasal, and Lt. Gen. David H. Berger, I Marine Expeditionary Force commanding general, salute Marines of I MEF and they march in review during a relief and appointment ceremony aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Feb. 4, 2015. During the ceremony, the Marines bid farewell to Green as he prepares to assume his new post as the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, and welcomed Kasal as the new I MEF sergeant major. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Christopher J. Moore/Released)

Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. announced the selection of Sgt. Maj. Ronald L. Green as the next Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Jan. 20, 2015. In this 2011 image, Sgt. Maj. Ronald L. Green, then serving as the Marine Forces Africa sergeant major, speaks to a group of Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force 12 Marines and sailors. - Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. announced the selection of Sgt. Maj. Ronald L. Green as the next Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Jan. 20, 2015. In this 2011 image, Sgt. Maj. Ronald L. Green, then serving as the Marine Forces Africa sergeant major, speaks to a group of Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force 12 Marines and sailors.

Two Marines with 1st Law Enforcement Battalion experience Oleoresin Capsicum spray aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., Jan. 14, 2015. OC is a chemical agent compound mixed with different peppers that irritates the eyes, which causes tears, burning of the skin, involuntary muscle relaxation and temporary blindness to incapacitate an individual for a short period of time. - Two Marines with 1st Law Enforcement Battalion experience Oleoresin Capsicum spray aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., Jan. 14, 2015. OC is a chemical agent compound mixed with different peppers that irritates the eyes, which causes tears, burning of the skin, involuntary muscle relaxation and temporary blindness to incapacitate an individual for a short period of time.

Brigadier Gen. Daniel D. Yoo, commanding general of Marine Expeditionary Brigade - Afghanistan, salutes the colors at a deactivation ceremony for the unit aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., Jan. 9; symbolically closing another chapter in Marine Corps history following the 13-year conflict known as Operation Enduring Freedom. Marine Expeditionary Brigade - Afghanistan officially took authority of Regional Command (Southwest) from II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) Feb. 5, 2014, and assumed the responsibility to lead coalition operations in Helmand and Nimroz provinces. The Marines completed operations and left Afghanistan Oct. 27, 2014. - Brigadier Gen. Daniel D. Yoo, commanding general of Marine Expeditionary Brigade - Afghanistan, salutes the colors at a deactivation ceremony for the unit aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., Jan. 9; symbolically closing another chapter in Marine Corps history following the 13-year conflict known as Operation Enduring Freedom. Marine Expeditionary Brigade - Afghanistan officially took authority of Regional Command (Southwest) from II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) Feb. 5, 2014, and assumed the responsibility to lead coalition operations in Helmand and Nimroz provinces. The Marines completed operations and left Afghanistan Oct. 27, 2014.