Students from the Manggahan elementary school await

Students from the Manggahan elementary school await the groundbreaking of a new project on the school grounds. The project is one of eight engineering civic action program missions being performed by units of the Joint Civil Military Operations Task Force in support of exercise Balikatan 2013. Engineers from the U.S. Army's 6th Engineering Battalion based out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, and engineers from the armed forces of the Philippines will work together to build a pre-engineered building to serve as a community center. They will also construct a ferrocement water tank, dig a drainage canal and renovate the day care and elementary school. Balikatan is an annual Republic of the Philippines-U.S. military bilateral training exercise and humanitarian assistance engagement. Balikatan in Filipino means "shoulder-to-shoulder" and characterizes the spirit of the exercise and the Philippines-U.S. alliance. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Jason A. Penny)