Lance Cpl. Keaton L. Lyon, left, and 2nd Lt. Douglas A. Columbus monitor radios while a Marine Corps CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter approaches a landing zone during a noncombatant evacuation operation exercise at the West Wetlands Park in Yuma, Ariz., on May 7, 2010. The exercise is part of the current Weapons and Tactics Instructor course being held at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma. The city of Yuma regularly allows the Marines to hold exercises within its parks, which adds realism for the students. Since the Korean War, the Marine Corps has conducted at least 16 noncombatant evacuations, the most recent in Lebanon in 2006. Many of the pilots involved were trained in Yuma, said Col. Gary Thomas, commanding officer of Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1, which teaches the course. Columbus, a 23-year-old native of Hawthorn Woods, Ill., and a section commander with 2nd Low-Altitude Air Defense Battalion based in Cherry Point, N.C., was a student in the course. Lyon, a 19-year-old native of Tonopah, Ariz., serves as a radio operator with 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, based at Camp Pendleton in California.