U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Alistair E. Howard interacts with children during exercise Cobra Gold at Baan Pong Wua School in Chantaburi province, Thailand, on Jan. 18, 2011. Howard is a civil affairs officer assigned to the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force. Cobra Gold is the latest in a series of Thai-U.S. military exercises to ensure regional peace through a strategy of cooperative engagement.