171209-M-AD571-001.JPG - Marines and Sailors with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, bid their families and friends farewell as they prepare to deploy from Marine Corps Base Hawaii to Okinawa, Japan, Dec. 08, 2017. The battalion is deploying under the Unit Deployment Program to serve as a forward deployed force in the West Pacific for the next six months. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Kathy Nunez)

Gunnery Sgt. Kevin D. Pirtle (right) and Capt. Jim C. Wang pose for a photo Jan. 8 at Marine Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms during Integrated Training Exercsie 2-15. Pirtle and Wang spend a lot of time working together in Headquarters and Service Company. Pirtle, a Somerville, Tennessee, native, is an infantry unit leader and the company gunnery sergeant, and Wang, a Fayetteville, North Carolina native, is an infantry officer and company commander, both with Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. - Gunnery Sgt. Kevin D. Pirtle (right) and Capt. Jim C. Wang pose for a photo Jan. 8 at Marine Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms during Integrated Training Exercsie 2-15. Pirtle and Wang spend a lot of time working together in Headquarters and Service Company. Pirtle, a Somerville, Tennessee, native, is an infantry unit leader and the company gunnery sergeant, and Wang, a Fayetteville, North Carolina native, is an infantry officer and company commander, both with Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force.