U.S. Marines with 3d Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, and Marine Wing Support Squadron 174, Marine Aircraft Group 24, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, load the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System onto a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules assigned to the 39th Airlift Squadron while participating in the Maritime Key Terrain Security Operations event during Exercise Balikatan 25 on Batan Island, Philippines, April 28, 2025. The MKTSO event experiments with the Littoral Reconnaissance Team concept by deploying low-signature, light-weight formations to the Batanes island chain to rehearse Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations, test sensing capabilities, and simulate securing and defending key maritime terrain. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military designed to strengthen our ironclad alliance, improve our capable combined force, and demonstrate our commitment to regional security and stability. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Malia Sparks)