MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – Mexican

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – Mexican sailors converge on a building while participating in a mechanized assault during the Southern California portion of Rim of the Pacific 2016, aboard Camp Pendleton, July 18, 2016. The purpose for the mechanized assault is so partner nations can integrate and communicate with each other for future operations. Units participating in the exercise were Marines with India Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment and 3rd Assault Amphibious Battalion, both with the 1st Marine Division, and service members with the Mexican navy. Twenty-six nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 30 to Aug. 4, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2016 is the 25th exercise in the series that began in 1971. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl Skyler E. Treverrow/ Released)