Pacific Marines Stories

U.S. Marine pilot Capt. Ernie Drake shows Yothinnukun School student, Nattasit Attapolpisarn, the gear he uses when operating an aircraft during an open house held by Royal Thai Air Force Wing 1 and U.S. Marines at Royal Thai Air Force Base Korat during Exercise Cobra Gold 2015, Feb. 13. Students also observed demonstrations of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Aircraft Rescue Firefighters, and Navy Corpsmen basic medical procedures. Drake is with Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533, currently attached to Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force in Iwakuni, Japan, under the Unit Deployment Program. Cobra Gold 2015 is a Thailand /United States co-sponsored, multinational and joint theater security cooperation exercise, conducted annually in the Kingdom of Thailand, with 25 nations participating. This year there is an increased focus on Humanitarian Civic Action, community engagement, and medical activities to support the needs and humanitarian interests of civilian populations around the region. For more information on exercise Cobra Gold, please visit the official Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ExerciseCobraGold. - U.S. Marine pilot Capt. Ernie Drake shows Yothinnukun School student, Nattasit Attapolpisarn, the gear he uses when operating an aircraft during an open house held by Royal Thai Air Force Wing 1 and U.S. Marines at Royal Thai Air Force Base Korat during Exercise Cobra Gold 2015, Feb. 13. Students also observed demonstrations of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Aircraft Rescue Firefighters, and Navy Corpsmen basic medical procedures. Drake is with Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533, currently attached to Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force in Iwakuni, Japan, under the Unit Deployment Program. Cobra Gold 2015 is a Thailand /United States co-sponsored, multinational and joint theater security cooperation exercise, conducted annually in the Kingdom of Thailand, with 25 nations participating. This year there is an increased focus on Humanitarian Civic Action, community engagement, and medical activities to support the needs and humanitarian interests of civilian populations around the region. For more information on exercise Cobra Gold, please visit the official Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ExerciseCobraGold.

Master Sgt. Antoine Robinson hugs Mary, a 9-year old Shepherd of the Hills Children’s Foundation resident, during a community relations project. Robinson was among 40 other volunteers participating in the project coordinated by the Combined Joint Civil Military Operations Task Force chaplain. The children’s home was founded in 1976 after a typhoon displaced the foundation’s first 20 children. The foundation is dedicated to providing a caring home for abandoned, neglected, abused or underprivileged children. The event was one of several scheduled by CJCMOTF units in support of Exercise Balikatan 2013. Balikatan is an annual Republic of the Philippines – U.S. military bilateral training exercise and humanitarian assistance engagement. - Master Sgt. Antoine Robinson hugs Mary, a 9-year old Shepherd of the Hills Children’s Foundation resident, during a community relations project. Robinson was among 40 other volunteers participating in the project coordinated by the Combined Joint Civil Military Operations Task Force chaplain. The children’s home was founded in 1976 after a typhoon displaced the foundation’s first 20 children. The foundation is dedicated to providing a caring home for abandoned, neglected, abused or underprivileged children. The event was one of several scheduled by CJCMOTF units in support of Exercise Balikatan 2013. Balikatan is an annual Republic of the Philippines – U.S. military bilateral training exercise and humanitarian assistance engagement.