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Helicopter was searching for the pilots from a jet downed by the Turkish military on the Syrian border

Free Syrian Army fighters, take positions against the Syrian regime forces base of Wadi al-Deif, at the front line of Maarat al-Nuaman town, in Idlib province....Louis Sparks A US-armed Syrian rebel group claims it has hit a Russian military helicopter with an anti-tank missile, forcing it to make an emergency landing. The helicopter was understood to have been among a number of Russian aircraft searching for the two pilots from an Su-24 jet which was downed by the Turkish military. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Free Syrian Army officials said its fighters successfully targeted the Russian search helicopter with anti-tank weaponry. The insurgent group is among the recipients of US Tow missiles, among other armaments, designed to bolster it against regime forces. Unlike the pilots of the Russian jet, the helicopter did not come down within rebel-held territory in the mountainous north-eastern Latakia province where it was hit, the Observatory told Reuters. Instead, it was reportedly able to make an emergency landing in a nearby government-held area. What happened to the pilots of the Russian jet remains unclear. While the rebels said they had video and photos showing one had been found dead upon landing near the Turkish border, conflicting reports suggested the second pilot was either missing or also dead.

Army aims to strengthen health diplomacy with Nigeria Maj. Brian Hannah (center), the Field Assistance in Science and Technology advisor for U.S. Africa Command, meets with Nigerian health officials Sept. 16.

Army aims to strengthen health diplomacy with Nigeria Maj. Brian Hannah (right), the Field Assistance in Science and Technology advisor for U.S. Africa Command, meets with Nigerian health officials Sept. 16.

Army aims to strengthen health diplomacy with Nigeria U.S. Army, Department of Defense and Nigerian health officials meet Sept. 16.

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (Oct. 15, 2015) -- A U.S. Army science advisor traveled to Nigeria Sept. 16 with Department of Defense medical officials to build on international health diplomacy partnerships.

The team evaluated lab operations, assessed Nigerian Ministry of Defense's infectious disease response resources and developed a plan to enhance the country's response capacity.

Maj. Brian Hannah, the Field Assistance in Science and Technology advisor for U.S. Africa Command, said he was impressed with Nigeria's response to the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak and thinks the country will be "as well-prepared as any military on the continent" with help from the United States.

Also on the team: Col. Stephen Thomas, deputy commander, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; Col. Nelson Michael, director, U.S. Military HIV Research Program; Navy Capt. Patrick Blair, executive officer for Naval Medical Research Unit 3; Robbie Nelson, Walter Reed Program-Nigeria Country Director; Lt. Col. Julie Ake, deputy director, MHRP; Col. Matt Hepburn, Defense Health Agency; and Lt. Joe Diclaro, technical advisor for the Liberian Institute for Biomedical Research.

Since 2004, MHRP has advanced a strong partnership between the Nigerian Ministry of Defense Health Implementation Program and the Walter Reed Program-Nigeria, Hannah said. Building upon this relationship, FAST "hopes to advocate for future AFRICOM investments in the Nigerian military health implementation system."

FAST is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command.

Hannah is drafting an international health diplomacy package as a recommendation to AFRICOM.

"It involves procurement of three mobile treatment units, or tents, improvements to two fixed treatment centers, additional equipment, as well as two to four iterations of training and doctrinal support," he said.

According to Hannah, mobile units allow Nigerian health workers to respond to an outbreak anywhere in their country and possibly in neighboring countries.

This capability is crucial as Nigeria is "an extremely important partner in West Africa with the expertise and means to assist less-prepared countries in its region," he said.

Another component of Hannah's package includes upgrading multiple tuberculosis treatment wards across Nigeria. These wards could be used if a highly infectious disease outbreak occurs, as one such ward already was used in the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American lawyer who brought the Ebola virus into Nigeria, was managed in a tuberculosis ward.

The effectiveness of the ward and Nigerian health workers enabled the country to minimize the spread and impact of the outbreak. Hannah will consult with Walter Reed Army Institute of Research's Military HIV program and the AFRICOM Command Surgeon's office to determine which upgrades to these wards are necessary.

Training support courses are not planned yet, but they will likely include courses provided by RDECOM, MRMC and AFRICOM.

Thomas also discussed the importance of the partnership with Nigeria.

"The WRAIR highly values the productive, decade-long relationship that we have developed with Nigerian civil society, the Nigerian military and the U.S. Embassy. Tens of thousands of people's lives have been improved because of the collaborative efforts of these groups to execute activities under the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and parallel HIV and malaria countermeasure research," he said.

"We are extremely enthusiastic to start the next 10 years of partnership and collaboration as we expand clinical trials activities and build regional biopreparedness capabilities adding new partners from Nigerian academia."

While in Nigeria, the science and medical team collaborated with the Nigerian Ministry of Defence Health Implementation Program and toured labs in Abuja, Lagos and Yaba.