A Marine requests permission to board the USS Bonhomme Richard during their embarkation with Amphibious Squadron 11 here, Jan 29. The unit is deploying to participate in exercise Cobra Gold 2013 in the Kingdom of Thailand. Cobra Gold is a multilateral training exercise that the United States has participated in for more than three decades. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and is the Marine Corps’ force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region.