U.S. and Philippine Marines work side-by-side to build an outdoor seating area at a engineering civil affairs project during the Philippine Bilateral Amphibious Landing Exercise 2013 here, Oct. 10. PHIBLEX 2013 is a bilateral training exercise hosted annually in the Republic of the Philippines to enhance interoperability and readiness of Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. Forces. The training is designed to prepare both countries’ military forces for humanitarian service missions as well as strengthen bilateral ties. The civil-military component of this exercise promotes engineer and medical operational readiness while providing services to local areas.