Photo By Airman 1st Class Benjamin Riddle | U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Brian Bowman, 627th Security Forces Squadron Phoenix...... read more read more
What makes an elite warrior? Intense training? A razer-sharp mind? Training to the point of physical exhaustion? Is it fierce determination in the face of unforeseen dangers? Maybe it’s the desire to make the world a better place. The answer, of course, is yes. It takes all these traits and much more to answer this call.
At Joint Base Lewis-McChord one of these elite units are known simply as the Phoenix Ravens. As a subsect of the 627th Security Forces Squadron, the Ravens consist of a small group of highly specialized Airmen who act as advisors, security, and when the chips are on the table, protectors for aircrew traveling to austere and hostile environments.
They may not have the shiniest gear, or the most advanced combative equipment, but what they do have is each other. The bond that these men and women share through trial and grit allow them to blend three members into one cohesive team every time they approach the flightline.
“I know for myself and the people in this room and in this program, they’re the types of people that’ll say, ‘I will go. I don’t care about how hard it is. I don’t care if I’m only going to get two hours of sleep or pull a 14, 15-hour shift,’” said Senior Airman Daniil Smirnov, 627th SFS Phoenix Raven team member. “Those are the people I want to be around.”
The Phoenix Ravens’ missions take them across the world where they are not only tasked with protecting aircraft and crew, but with maintaining constant vigilance and purposeful communication toward any and all potential threats. These fighters enable their aircrew to execute today’s global airlift mission every step of the way.
Senior Airman Matthew Watts, 627th SFS Phoenix Raven team member, described a particular mission he was apart of in the spring of 2024 that took place in Haiti. The C-17 Globemaster III that had originally been flown to Haiti for an aircrew delivering humanitarian aid, ended up breaking for 12 days. The mission had only included three Phoenix Raven team members, but after a 20-hour shift they were in dire need of support.
Watts was called away on the relief mission to Haiti with only a six hours’ notice.
“We were doing 12-hour shifts, three-man teams around the clock and I was working night shift,” said Watts. “About three days in, I was at the U.S. Embassy getting rest with the two other people I was working with, and we got a call saying, ‘Hey we need you guys to come out here ASAP.’”
Watts then described how U.S. contractors, Haitian police and Haitian military briefed the team that there was a large gang planning to attack the airport. Watts and his five other team members created tactical control points around their aircraft and worked for 36 hours straight. Fortunately, the attack never came because of the embassy’s intervention.
“Raven becomes a lifestyle in itself,” said Senior Airman Brian Bowman, 627th SFS Phoenix Raven team member. “You are going to be on the road a lot. You’re going to see a lot of new places. You’re going to meet a lot of new people and you’re going to have to stay flexible and always have a bag packed and ready to go.”
You might ask yourself, what does it take to become a Phoenix Raven? The answer is, naturally, a series of physical, mental, and emotional training with varying degrees of intensity, or to be more succinct, one must dedicate themselves fully to the Raven lifestyle.
“I wanted to do more,” said Airman 1st Class Raymond Egipeiaco, 627th SFS Phoenix Raven team member. “I wanted to actually provide and do something for the Air Force and make a better career for myself. That’s when I reached out to Master Sergeant Woll, a Raven program manager here, and he told me about pre-Raven.”
The pre-Raven course is a two-week course all potential Phoenix Ravens have to attend prior to attending the schoolhouse at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. The two-week evaluation includes intensive physical training sessions, lengthy baton striking training, multiple red-man fights (baton training against instructors or other students wearing protective equipment), and verbal judo on top of the additional paperwork needed to attend the schoolhouse. The schoolhouse itself expands on this training while working in extensive classroom and tactical training, higher-level combatives, close quarters combat training, and culminating events in the form of field training exercises.
“After graduating the Raven schoolhouse on March 28th [2025], I felt like I accomplished, you know, everything I wanted to, so far as being a brand-new Airman who just joined the Air Force,” said Egipeiaco. “Beyond that, I am looking forward to flying and doing missions.”
The Phoenix Ravens are a tight-knit group of dedicated Airmen who are ready to be tasked at the drop of a hat. They are committed go-getters with tenacity and a desire to bring about positive global change.
The Phoenix Ravens are one of the Air Force’s most elite units and for good reason. Their dedication is obvious, their training is intense, and their willingness to go where others may not want to, is clear. Our Team McChord Ravens’ intensity isn’t only shown in their training, but also their passion for the job.
“I never once thought in my whole life I would ever go to Cyprus, but sure enough the Raven program sent me to Cyprus, and I got to go explore,” said Smirnov. “This program, I think, has done a lot for me. I think it changed my life for the better, because now I do live a lifestyle, that Raven lifestyle.”
| Date Taken: | 05.13.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.16.2025 19:43 |
| Story ID: | 498241 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 220 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, The Raven Lifestyle: How Phoenix Ravens are Forged for Success, by A1C Benjamin Riddle, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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