Cpl. Cristoval Lopez, a team leader with the 31st Marine

Cpl. Cristoval Lopez, a team leader with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Security Platoon, climbs a caving ladder during Visit, Board, Search and Seizure training aboard the USS Ashland (LSD-48) while underway off the coast of Okinawa, Aug. 30, 2018. Lopez, a native of Tarzana, California, graduated Rio Mesa, June 2014; he enlisted in Aug. the same year. The Maritime Raid Force trains for quick, tactical raids of moving vessels, launched from both land and sea. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Bernadette Plouffe/Released)