Air Force’s Forgotten Mission to Mali
04.03.2014 at 03:45pm
Air Force's Forgotten Mission to Mali by Joe Trevithick, War Is Boring
In the fall of 1961, two worn-out C-47s from the U.S. Air Force’s 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron lumbered across the Atlantic on their way to Mali. The unit was on a new mission—which the flying branch still performs today.
The 4400th CCTS had stood up earlier in the year to train foreign forces to fight guerrillas inside their own borders. The Air Force still carries out this mission, known to the military as Foreign Internal Defense.
The Pentagon developed FID to help countries fight Communist-backed movements around the globe. Washington also saw political value in forming relationships with foreign militaries…
