GULF OF THAILAND - Ships of the forward-deployed Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), USS Stockdale (DDG 106) and Royal Thai Navy ship HTMS Surin (LST 722) steam in formation for a photo exercise. The Essex ARG, Stockdale and Surin are currently participating in exercise Cobra Gold 2011, a U.S. and Thailand cosponsored multination exercise designed to improve interoperability between participating nations.