A medical non-commissioned officer with the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) based at Fort Bragg, N.C., instructs Malian military, firemen and other first responders on critical life-saving techniques and applications at a military base in Timbuktu, Mali as part of a May 29 military training engagement. U.S. Special Forces medical personnel receive extensive medical training and are well-rehearsed in teaching these skills to foreign militaries and indigenous populations. Host nation language proficient, culturally indoctrinated and experts on interagency processes, the 3rd SFG (A) Warrior-Ambassadors operate in small teams to conduct MTEs in the Trans-Saharan region as part of long-established security force assistance missions spearheaded by Special Operations Forces with partner nations in north and West Africa. The security force assistance missions are part of Operation Enduring Freedom (Trans-Sahara), the Department of Defense initiative to achieve regional cooperation and security. (Photo by Max R. Blumenfeld, JSOTF-TS PAO