13th MEU USS Anchorage CARAT/MAREX Sri Lanka 22 Opening Ceremony

by Sgt. Brendan Custer

19 January 2023 COLOMBO, SRI LANKA -- U.S. Marines with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, U.S. Navy Sailors assigned to amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23), and Sri Lanka Navy Sailors take a group photo for Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training/Marine Exercise Sri Lanka 2023 in Colomb, Jan. 19. CARAT/MAREX Sri Lanka is a bilateral exercise between Sri Lanka and the United States designed to promote regional security cooperation, practice humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and strengthen maritime understanding, partnerships, and interoperability. In its 28th year, the CARAT series is comprised of multinational exercises, designed to enhance U.S. and partner forces’ abilities to operate together in response to traditional and non-traditional maritime security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Brendan Custer)