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A Marine with Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, snaps in at the 7th stage of the Red Death Challenge at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Dec. 29, 2017. Alpha Company was given the name Red Death in 1981 by the commandant of the Marine Corps; then in 2015 the Red Death Challenge was made to honor the fallen members of Alpha Company. As the Marine Corps' only continuously forward-deployed MEU, the 31st MEU provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide range of military operations.