Marines and Sailors with Company A., Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, sprint out of an amphibious assault vehicle during an amphibious assault for exercise Cobra Gold 2013 here, Feb. 14. 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.