31st MEU Marines go to school with Filipino children

Lance Cpl. Christopher Heatherington, combat engineer with Combat Logistics Battalion 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and a native of Fairbury, Ill., attempts to cheat off a neighboring fourth-grader during a multiplication test here, Oct. 10. Taking a break from their engineering civil affair project at the elementary school, the Marines interacted with the students in class. The ENCAP is one of multiple humanitarian civil affairs projects conducted by the 31st MEU throughout the island of Palawan during the Amphibious Landing Exercise in the Philippines. PHIBLEX, now in its 29th iteration, is an annually-scheduled exercise between the U.S. and Philippine forces, aimed at strengthening military-to-military interoperability and bilateral relationships.