080508-N-5253W-044 SATTAHIP, Thailand (May 8, 2008) - Marines assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and Sailors assigned to Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 1 and Beachmaster Unit (BMU 1) prepare to unload Landing Craft Utility (LCU) 1631 after transporting vehicles and equipment from the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2). Essex is currently participating in Cobra Gold 2008 (CG08). CG08 is a Thai/U.S.-sponsored military exercise designed to enhance interoperability between joint U.S. forces and the combined forces of U.S., Thai, Singaporean, Japanese and Indonesian militaries. Essex is the lead ship of the only forward-deployed U.S. Expeditionary Strike Group and serves as the flagship for CTF 76, the Navy's only forward-deployed amphibious force commander. Task Force 76 is headquartered at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan, with a detachment in Sasebo, Japan. U.S. Navy photograph by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gabriel S. Weber.

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