An Air Force Special Operations Command MC-130 on a humanitarian flight in Mali last week was struck by small arms fire, causing minor damage to its fuselage, reports Stars and Stripes. The MC-130 from the 352nd Special Operations Group at RAF Mildenhall, Britain, was on its second run to a military garrison that had been under siege from an armed force, possibly Taureg rebels. The AFSOC aircraft and aircrew were in Mali to participate in a bilateral exercise called Flintlock 2007, when the Mali government asked for assistance to resupply its garrison.
Earlier this spring, the 388th Fighter Wing proved just 12 Airmen can operate an F-35 contingency location, refueling and rearming the fighters at spots across Georgia and South Carolina. The demonstration, part of exercise Agile Flag 23-1, marks yet another proof of concept for the Air Force’s plan to send…