Marine Leaders of The Americas Conference (MLAC) 2025

U.S. Marines with Joint Task Force - Leeward Islands conduct a roving patrol at Ross University School of Medicine in Portsmouth, Dominica, Sept. 27, 2017. The Marines were tasked with providing security while the U.S. State Department used the campus as a staging area to locate U.S. citizens stranded on the island in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. At the request of partner nations and both the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development, JTF-LI has deployed aircraft and service members to areas in the eastern Caribbean Sea affected by hurricanes Irma and Maria. The task force is a U.S. military unit composed of Marines, Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen, and represents U.S. Southern Command’s primary response to both disasters. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Ian Leones)