U.S. troops arrive in Australia

ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION

Around 200 U.S. Marines have arrived in Darwin, the second rotation to begin a six month deployment in Australia, local media reported.

The Marines, from Lima Company, Third Battalion, Third Marine Regiment, will train with Australian and Indonesian troops.

They were welcomed by the U.S. Ambassador to Australia, Jeffrey Bleich, who said the first deployment of U.S. Marines was seen as a great success.

"It was an outstanding success last year. The Marines behaved themselves wonderfully. The community welcomed them with open arms and we had a terrific set of training exercises that improved both of our forces," Bleich said.

Bleich said the deployment is part of U.S. efforts to strengthen its relationships within the Asia-Pacific region and follows closer Australia-U.S. Defence cooperation announced by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and President Barack Obama in 2011.