United States Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Melinda Carbajal, right, Marine Wing Support Squadron 172, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, and Armed Forces of the Philippines Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Alfredo Mendoza, 3rd Naval Construction Battalion, left, exchange tools at the construction site at Santa Cruz Elementary School, Palawan, Republic of the Philippines, March 22, 2012. Philippine and U.S. military members are constructing a new building at the school during Balikatan 2012, an annual combined joint training exercise aimed at improving Philippine and U.S. military force interoperability during planning, combat readiness, and humanitarian assistance operations. This is one of five engineering civic assistance projects the island of Palawan will receive during the exercise, which officially begins April 16, 2012.