Kickin' Up Dust

Marines of 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Battalion Landing Team, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit wait to be extracted by helicopter during a rehearsal of the final exercise at Exercise Africa Lion 2012, April 16. AL-12 is a U.S. African Command-sponsored, Marine Forces Africa-led exercise involving various types of training including command post, live-fire and maneuvering, peace keeping operations, an intelligence capacity building seminar, aerial refueling/low-level flight training, as well as medical and dental assistance projects. The annual exercise is designed to improve interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation's military tactics, techniques and procedures.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tyler Main)