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U.S. Marines drink snake blood in Operation Cobra Gold

13/02/2012 13:51:00

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U.S. Marines drink snake blood in Operation Cobra Gold

Head tilted back and eyes closed, this U.S. Marine is drinking cobra blood during a joint military exercise in Thailand.

The gruesome spectacle is part of a jungle survival training course at a military base in Sattahip, Thailand, as part of the Cobra Gold 2012 exercise.

U.S. Marines were being shown how to kill cobras by Thai navy instructors, before being offered the chance to drink the snake's blood, eat its entrails or even behead chickens.

Instructors also showed them which bugs they could eat in the jungle, as well as other survival craft.

Cobra Gold is a U.S.-led multi-national exercise which sees a total of 13,180 personnel from Thailand, the U.S., Singapore, Japan, Republic of Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia take part in a series of simulation combat situations.

It features a computer-simulated command-post exercise, field training operations and humanitarian and civic-assistance projects that increase the standard of living for the Thai people in surrounding communities.

Among the operations are a non-combatant evacuation exercise, a search and seize operation and a mock amphibious raid.

Cooperation: A Marine bites down on snake entrails and, one of his colleagues tries out some jungle bugs

The annual drill saw a multinational force stage a landing on Hat Yao beach, eastern Thailand, using amphibious assault vehicles.

The two-week military exercise, now in its 31st year, also allows U.S. generals to develop closer ties with militaries in Asia.

Judith Beth Cefkin, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, said: 'We are very proud of our alliance with Thailand, and our alliances and partnerships throughout Asia.

'These relationships based on friendship, common goals and mutual respect makes Cobra Gold the vital and vibrant exercise it is today.'

Last year, the U.S. announced a strategy to re-engage with South East Asia which included maintaining large military bases in Japan and South Korea and increasing troop numbers in the region.

Missile destroyer USS Chafee and amphibious dock landing ship USS Tortuga were also taking part in the exercises.

Rear Admiral Scott Jones, commander of the Amphibious Force 7th Fleet, told navaltoday.com: 'Exercises like Cobra Gold are essential to building and maintaining relationships with out partners in the Asia-Pacific region.

'The Cobra Gold multi-nation naval staff training supports our combined ability to respond to crisis across a range of operations.'

It follows Operation Bold Alligator, which saw 20,000 service personnel from the U.S., Britain, France, Canada, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia storming beaches in North Carolina and Virginia last week as part of the biggest multinational exercise in a decade.