A military working dog deployed from Tinker AFB, Okla., to Iraq was killed in action Jan. 19 during a patrol in Baghdad. Marco, a 7 year-old Belgian Malinois, was on weapons and explosives detection patrol with his handler, SSgt. Alissa Jones, deployed from the 72nd Security Forces Squadron at Tinker, when he died subsequent to electrical shock. It was Marco’s third tour in Iraq.
After years of experiments and tests, senior Air Force leaders say they're on the verge of using C-17s and other cargo aircraft to launch cruise missiles via airdrop, touting the development as a way to bolster the combat fleet and a major shift in the service’s mindset.