U.S. Marines with 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion (2nd Recon) conduct safety checks during special patrol insertion and extraction (SPIE) training with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 269 near Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, May 8, 2025. HMLA-269 conducted a series of training evolutions with 2nd Recon to improve the squadron’s proficiency in providing assault support to Marine Corps ground units. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Mya Seymour)
U.S. Marines with 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion (2nd Recon) and Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 269 conduct special patrol insertion and extraction (SPIE) training near Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, May 8, 2025. HMLA-269 conducted a series of training evolutions with 2nd Recon to improve the squadron’s proficiency in providing assault support to Marine Corps ground units. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Lance Cpl. Mya Seymour)
Sirens pierced through the walls of the C-130 Hercules aircraft that he rode, indicating that rockets were inbound somewhere on the installation. The aircraft was forced to conduct a “combat landing,” taking a steeper angle than usual to land to avoid enemy fires. The year was 2011, and U.S. Marine Sgt. Allen Ravan, a Charleston, South Carolina, native and an airframes mechanic with Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 513, had just landed at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.
“It was a pace I wasn’t ready for,” said now Master Sgt. Ravan.
High operational tempo and stressful conditions like this forged the beginning of Ravan’s career and have continued to impact how he leads today. Currently, Ravan is a Maintenance Assessment...
05.05.2025 | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
Story by Lance Cpl. Mya Seymour
