Lt. Col. David Sosa, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and commanding officer of Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, studies a map of a training area, May 5, 2012, with Jordanian Army Lt. Col. Saif, commander of the Jordanian 4th Tank Battalion, to prepare for upcoming training opportunities together. During Eager Lion 12 the 24th MEU will participate in a variety of training exercises with partnered nations at different locations throughout the country to increase interoperability and learn about other countries' militaries. Eager Lion 12 is a recurring, multinational exercise designed to strengthen military-to-military relationships through a joint, whole-of-government, multinational approach to future complex national security challenges. The 24th MEU, partnered with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, is currently deployed to the Central Command area of operations as a theater reserve and crisis response force capable of a variety of missions from full-scale combat operations to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.