A U.S. Marine, left, with Echo Company, Battalion Landing Team 2/4, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force soldier, right, with the 1st Amphibious Rapid Deployment Regiment, prepare to conduct simulated integrated squad attacks at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Feb. 24, 2025. The training 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 JGSDF, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air 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. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alora Finigan)