Corporal Matthew G. Whitesell, information operations noncommissioned officer of the operations section, command element, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and a native of Hurscher, Ill., helps a Buddhist monk clear underbrush from the garden of the Wat Ta Kraw Temple during a community relations project here, Feb. 14. The project, part of multinational exercise Cobra Gold 2013, was one of multiple events focused on helping the local Thai population. Cobra Gold is an annual exercise that includes numerous multilateral events ranging from amphibious assaults to non-combatant evacuation operations. The training aims to improve interoperability between the United States, the Kingdom of Thailand, and many other participating countries. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and is the Marine Corps’ force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region.
<dl><dd>Unit: 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit</dd>
<dd>DVIDS Tags: Marine; 31st MEU; Expeditionary; Thailand; III MEF; Kingdom of Thailand; Cobra Gold 13; CG13; Cobra Gold 2013; Ban Dan Lan Hoi</dd></dl>
Sgt. Jonathan Wright
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