U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Cade Astrin, an infantry Marine with Echo Company, Battalion Landing Team 2/4, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, sets security during a bilateral urban operations force-on-force training exercise at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Feb. 21, 2025. The exercise was conducted to strengthen cohesion between partner forces and to share tactics, techniques, and procedures during Iron Fist 25. Iron Fist is an annual bilateral exercise designed to increase interoperability and strengthen the relationships between the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Navy, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward deployed MEU, provides a flexible and lethal force, ready to perform a wide range of military operations as the premiere crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region. Astrin is a native of Virginia. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alora Finigan)