Republic of Korea ships conduct search and rescue operations for survivors of the sunken ferry Sewol off the coast of the Republic of Korea, April 20, 2014. The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and Amphibious Squadron 11 (PHIBRON) were conducting routine training in support of their regularly scheduled spring patrol roughly 100 nautical miles away when they were tasked to respond to the incident April 16. The 31st MEU and PHIBRON 11 provide a forward deployed maritime contingency response force capable of conducting a wide range of operations in the Asia-Pacific region.
