HAT YAO, Thailand- Marines from Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducted a bilateral boat raid with their Royal Thai counterparts Feb. 8. This bilateral force was a demonstration of what unifying militaries are capable of and encompass the meaning of Exercise Cobra Gold 2012.
The exercise, which started Feb. 7, is an annual multinational combined joint training exercise held throughout the Kingdom of Thailand. It is the United States' largest multilateral exercise in the Asia Pacific region and offers more than 20 participating countries critical training opportunities to improve interoperability in conducting multinational operations.
“We’ve participated in this exercise for 31 years and it allows us to gain visibility and cooperation with our multinational Marines,” said Capt. Troy Cronbaugh, future operations officer for the exercise, 3rd Marine Logistics Group. “The training helps us learn our strengths and weaknesses together.”
Using teamwork to understand other militaries is the foundation of the exercise, said Cronbaugh. “If there is a training instance where we worked together, then we’ll be better prepared for when those instances happen again,” said Sgt. Matthew Milanuk, BLT 1. “This is a good team builder.”