Marine Corps Reserve Sgt. Paul R. Gilbert, a 1993 graduate of Plainedge High School, Massapequa, recently completed the pre-deployment exercise Mojave Viper at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., while assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, Harrisburg, Pa.

Gilbert's unit is comprised of approximately 1,100 reserve and active duty Marines and sailors who are scheduled to deploy to Iraq in support of the Global War on Terror and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Mojave Viper is a 30-day training exercise that helps service members hone skills in both combined-arms and counter-insurgency operations.

The primary mission of Gilbert's unit when deployed to Iraq will be base security and other nationbuilding civil affairs operations. This will be 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines' third deployment since 2002.

Gilbert joined the Marine Corps Reserve in June 1995.