Marine Leaders of The Americas Conference (MLAC) 2025

Col. Vincent Dawson, the commanding officer of Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force - Southern Command, and Sgt. Maj. Mark Murphy, the senior enlisted advisor of SPMAGTF-SC, case the unit colors during the SPMAGTF-SC closing ceremony in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Nov. 13, 2020. The ceremony marks the end of the sixth consecutive year the Marines and Sailors formed SPMAGTF-SC to serve as the crisis response force assigned to U.S. Southern Command. SPMAGTF-SC worked within the Latin American and Caribbean region conducting dynamic force employment training, enhancing combined crisis response and humanitarian aid efforts in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility. Dawson is a native of Portland, Oregon. Murphy is a native of Great Bend, Kansas. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Andy O. Martinez)