U.S. Marines from the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion completed their last exercise for Trident Juncture.

Trident Juncture 2015 is NATO's largest military exercise in over a decade, and supports the alliance's initiative to improve global response readiness across the globe. The 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion faced off against the British Royal Marines with the aim of revealing the strengths and weaknesses in both, and improving their combat capabilities.

The final training event took place in Alvarez de Sotomayor, a military training area in Spain, and allowed Reserve Marines to participate. Cpl. Benjamin Atha, a light armored vehicle driver for the 4th LAR, 4th Marine Division said the training environment provided a beneficial change of pace.

"We've been conducting training with the British Royal Marines and doing some of our own training within the unit itself, getting used to the terrain and trying out different tactics that we haven't had the opportunity to do in the states," Atha said in a statement.

Trident Juncture 2015 included 5,000 U.S. service members, for a total of 36,000 personnel from 30 countries.

Keel laid for Navy's 15th Littoral Combat Ship
Marinette, Wis. (UPI) Nov 3, 2015 - The keel has been laid at a Wisconsin shipyard for the U.S. Navy's 15th Littoral Combat Ship, the future USS Billings.

The ship is a Freedom variant LCS by the Lockheed Martin-led team. Three have so far been delivered to the Navy and seven others are in various stages of construction.

"The LCS platform is proving the Navy's concept of operations with its flexibility in supporting a broad range of missions, from anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare to mine counter-measures," said Joe North, vice president of Littoral Ships and Systems at Lockheed Martin.

"This industry has shown it can adapt to meet the Navy's most challenging missions, anywhere in the world."

Littoral Combat Ships are slightly smaller than a guided missile frigate and feature a flight deck, a stern ramp for small boat operations and modular weapon packages for various missions.

The laying of the keel of the future USS Billings' marks the beginning of its modular construction process at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine yard in Marinette, Wis.

The Lockheed Martin-led LCS team includes Fincantieri Marinette Marine, naval architect Gibbs & Cox, and nearly 900 suppliers in 43 states.