A Royal Thai Marine officer (front) from 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, and Marine officers with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, give direction to their Marines during bilateral helicopter raid training. The Royal Thai Marines, along with approximately 7,000 U.S. service members, are participating in Exercise Cobra Gold 2009 throughout the Kingdom of Thailand. Cobra Gold '09 is a bilateral exercise focusing on military interoperability training and strengthening the long-standing partnership between the Royal Thai and U.S Armed Forces.