Lance Cpl. Julio C. Miranda Jr. rappels down a cliff during Mountain Exercise 2014 aboard Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, Calif., Aug. 29, 2014. Miranda is an infantry rifleman with 3rd Platoon, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. Marines with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment will become the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s ground combat element in October. Mountain Exercise 2014 develops critical skills the battalion will need during deployment. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Emmanuel Ramos/Released)Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician 2nd Class Brent Draper, of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Three (EODMU 3), dives at Belize's famous Blue Hole with U.S. Navy divers assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two (MDSU 2) and Belize Coast Guard divers. The Sailors are working together with their Belizean Coast Guard counterparts as part of Southern Partnership Station 2014. Southern Partnership Station 2014 is a U.S. Navy deployment focused on subject matter expert exchanges with partner nation militaries and security forces in Central and South America and the Caribbean. U.S. military teams work with partner nation forces during naval-focused training exercises, military-to-military engagements and community relations projects in an effort to enhance partnerships with regional maritime activities and improve the operational readiness of participants. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brett Cote/Released)U.S. Marines with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment participate in Integrated Training Exercise (ITX) 3-1 at Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base, Calif., Jan. 22, 2013. The ITX provided pre-deployment training for Marines. (DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Stephany Richards, U.S. Air Force/Released)SEKIYAMA TRAINING AREA, NIIGATA PREFECTURE, Japan - Marines patrol through snow March 6 during a culminating field event for Exercise Forest Light 14-2 at Sekiyama Training Area in Niigata prefecture, Japan. The three-day field training tested the cold-weather tactics and survival skills learned throughout the training. The Marines are with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, currently assigned to 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, under the unit deployment program.
Photo By: Lance Cpl. Joey S. Holeman Jr.CORONADO, Calif. (Jan. 21, 2014) Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUDs)
students participate in Surf Passage at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. Surf
Passage is one of many physically demanding evolutions that are a part of
the first phase of SEAL training. Navy SEALs are the maritime component of
U.S. Special Forces and are trained to conduct a variety of operations from
the sea, air and land. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st
Class Michael Russell/Released) 140121-N-KB563-148Marines with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, prepare to board a Modular Amphibious Egress Trainer during a helicopter dunker exercise here, Nov. 4, 2013. The training is designed to teach Marines how to egress from a helicopter in the event it crashes in open waters. The Marines conducted the training as preparation for their upcoming deployment with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.
Photo By: Lance Cpl. Christopher J. MooreABOARD MARINE CORPS BASE KANEOHE BAY, HAWAII., - Marines with 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, get on line and prepare to assault forward during an amphibious training raid as part of Exercise Tropic Thunder at Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii., Aug. 30, 2013. Marines and Sailors with 13th MEU recently left San Diego for their 2013 Western Pacific Deployment. (Official U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Christopher O’Quin/Released)141119-N-IP531-869
WATERS SOUTH OF JAPAN (Nov. 19, 2014) Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships transit in formation at the conclusion of Keen Sword 15, a joint/bilateral field training exercise involving U.S. military and the Japan Self-Defense Force to increase combat readiness and interoperability. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Chris Cavagnaro/Released)
Lance Cpl. Elias D. Gonzales scans for potential threats during convoy training April 5 at the combat convoy simulator on Camp Hansen. The simulator allowed Marines to use gas-powered weapons systems to practice their rules of engagement against simulated enemies. Gonzales is a bulk fuel specialist with 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force.
Photo by Cpl. Matthew ManningU.S. Army soldiers with 173rd Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, conduct a convoy during a training exercise at the predeployment training in Range Monte Romano, Italy, Jan. 31, 2012. (Photo by Paolo Bovo)Staff Sgt. Dwight Thomas, left, sprays a bleach mixture on a protective suit worn by Airman 1st Class Jamela Shannon on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014, during an infectious disease training exercise for the Ebola virus on Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Medical specialists on base perform the exercise with a different disease each year. (AP Photo/Northwest Florida Daily News, Nick Tomecek)Airman 1st Class Koleton Mitchell participates in a 7-mile-long ruck alongside fellow Airmen at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., Nov. 18, 2014. The ruck kicked-off a field training exercise culminating the Army Weather Support Course intended to integrate Airmen with Soldiers before they deploy with an Army unit. Mitchell is a 25th Operational Weather Squadron weather forecaster. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Chris Drzazgowski)U.S. Marine Sgt. Zack Ray posts security during interoperability training aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., Nov. 20, 2014. Ray is a point man with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Maritime Raid Force. Interop gives the 15th MEU’s MRF and Security Element an opportunity to work together and support each other in preparation for a deployment in the spring. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Anna Albrecht/Released)U.S. Marines with the 2nd Platoon, CharlieCompany, 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) engage steel targets with fragmenting ammunition during a live fire exercise at a training compound owned by the Tier 1 Group in Crawfordsville, Ark., Aug. 9, 2012. The training was conducted as a part of the 26th MEU's predeployment training program. (DoD photo by Cpl. Christopher Q. Stone, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)The 24th Marine Expiditionary Unit conducts Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) training in support of Maratime Interception Operations (MIO) at Fort Eustis, VA as part of thier predeployment training.
Marines from the MEU Force Recon Platoon fast rope from a Marine CH-46 onto the vessle Bayamon as part of VBSS training Package.U.S. Navy Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Chase Burton climbs a caving ladder out of the well deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Rushmore (LSD 47) in the Pacific Ocean July 23, 2014, during visit, board, search and seizure training as part of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2014. RIMPAC is a U.S. Pacific Fleet-hosted biennial multinational maritime exercise designed to foster and sustain international cooperation on the security of the world's oceans. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Amanda R. Gray, U.S. Navy/Released)U.S. Army Soldiers, assigned to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, use a radio to communicate during Decisive Action Training Enviroment (DATE) at the National Training Center here, May 16, 2014. DATE links live-fire pre-deployment training with virtual training and constructive training at operation centers. Participants at the National Training Center are supported by units at other locations.(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Stephen Solomon/Released)Marines with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 163 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, watch as MV-22B Ospreys take off from the flight deck of the USS Makin Island during Amphibious Squadron Marine Expeditionary Unit Integration Training (PMINT) off the coast of San Diego, April 15, 2014. PMINT is a two-week predeployment training event focused on the combined capabilities of the MEU and Amphibious Ready Group, conducting amphibious operations, crisis response, and limited contingency operations.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Laura Y. Raga/Released)