AV-8B Harrier aircraft sit on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) during Bold Alligator 2012 in the Atlantic Ocean on Feb. 2, 2012. Bold Alligator is a joint and multinational amphibious assault exercise involving several foreign militaries and the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps designed to execute brigade-sized amphibious assaults against low-to-medium land and maritime threats to improve amphibious core competencies.