 On March 31, 2014, U.S. Marines and sailors worked in conjunction with Marines and soldiers from the Republic of Korea and the Australian Army to take part in exercise Sangyong-14. Sangyong-14 is the culmination of a multitude of training events and exercises between the U.S. and rock forces, which take place across the Asia-Pacific region throughout the year. This year's evolution was the largest in its storied history, and was comprised of three expeditionary units, two U.S. and one rock. The exercise was led by the Third Marine Expeditionary Brigade, based in Okinawa, Japan, and showcased both interoperability and sea-based operations in the Korean Peninsula. When I watched 13 ships come together, both the U.S. Navy and the Rock Navy, and as we met yesterday for the first time, we folded into a tight formation, seamlessly bringing these two forces together, and that's just an example of how mature our relationship is, how well we work together with the Rock and the Navy partners. As the exercise commenced, the Marines began training with their multinational counterparts. The focus of this year's exercise was sea-based power projection and the ability to rapidly deploy forces anywhere in the region to accomplish full-spectrum operations. As exercise Sangyong gained momentum, the multinational force partnered to engage in a full-scale amphibious beach assault. This exercise is kind of a validation of the fact that it did not take us, a generation of Marines, to get back to doing amphibious operations on a larger scale. We were able to do this through a lot of hard staff work, a lot of cooperation, and a lot of just spirit. As ships moved into position, the exercise transitioned from maritime to assault operations. Marine and rock forces loaded into amphibious vehicles and began the ship-to-shore movement. The integration has been seamless. Whenever we've had an opportunity to train, be it in field operations or just training exercises, we've tried to implement them in everything we do in vice versa. I would say that we've had an outstanding working relationship and look forward to working with them again. While forces were swiftly moving across the beach, Marine Corps aircraft moved in overhead. With speed and agility, Marine aviation moved seamlessly over the battle space, providing crucial aerial integration and fire support to the forces on the ground. As forces moved inland, they were able to integrate and focus on ground command and control while securing simulated objectives. It's been really good. A lot of good training values come out of it. Working with Marines has been great. You can tell them I'll work with them. It's always good. Always look after us really well. It's a good exercise to come on with a privilege. Both US and rock forces were able to gain crucial knowledge and experience while training together. Despite language and cultural differences, the service members were able to create relationships and build on their expertise. As the exercise drew to a close and the ships set sail, the Navy and Marine Corps team were able to once again validate power projection from the sea and their commitment to being the quote, first to fight and win tonight.