Photo by Sgt. John OdetteLight Armored Vehicles, belonging to 4th Light Armored Reconnaisance, are staged at Range 500A in Twentynine Palms, Calif., prior to conducting assault drills. Javelin Thrust is an annual large-scale exercise which allows active and reserve Marines and Sailors from 38 different states to train together as a seamless Marine Air Ground Task Force.
Photo by Staff Sgt. Clifton FirstbrookRecruiting Substation Coon Rapids’ Sgt. Matt Talbot reaches the end of the Forest Lake Festival parade July 4. Talbot and several poolees distributed stickers and bookmarks along the parade route while pulling the Gold Star Family Weekend float. This is the second year in a row that Marines with Recruiting Station Twin Cities have participated in the parade.
Photo by Cpl. Jonathan WrightMarines with Company G., Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, pass belts of linked machine gun ammunition during the siege of Raspberry Creek here, July 5. The major engagement of the multi-week war during Exercise Hamel 2012. 50 Marines fend off the advancing Australian Army 1st Brigade before eventually being overrun. Exercise Hamel 2012 is a multi-national training evolution between the U.S. Marine Corps, Australian Army and New Zealand Army, aimed at certifying the Australian 1st Brigade for operational deployment. The 31st MEU is the only continuously forward-deployed MEU and is the nation’s force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region.
