U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Jack Young (left), engineer

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Jack Young (left), engineer company adviser to the Armed Forces of Liberia and a native of Gonzales, La., and Col. Vernon Graham, Operation Onward Liberty officer in charge, take part in the military ball festivities during the Armed Forces Day celebration in downtown Monrovia, Liberia, Feb. 11. The evening ball was the final event in a weeklong celebration of the history of armed forces in Liberia. This year’s Liberian Armed Forces Day theme was “Armed Forces of Liberia supports the foundation for long-term security and economic development in Liberia.” The newly formed AFL currently has about 2,000 personnel, consisting of various Army units spread out around the country, as well as a small and well-trained coast guard. Capacity building within the AFL is conducted by many international partners, including the United States’ Operation Onward Liberty, the United Nations Mission in Liberia and the Economic Community of West African States. Young is deployed from the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Graham is deployed from 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan.