Marines with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, prepare their gear for Exercise Croix du Sud 2012 at Camp Schwab Oct. 5. Croix du Sud is a multilateral exercise hosted by the French armed forces in New Caledonia, and will involve two U.S. Marine Corps platoons with III Marine Expeditionary Force, members of the FANC, and a company with the Australian Defence Force, as well as members of six other nations with varying levels of involvement. 2nd Bn., 3rd Marines, is currently assigned to 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III MEF, under the unit deployment program.