Rabat – US Marine officials stated that they were impressed by the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces during Exercise African Lion 14, which was held in Tifnit, Morocco on April 3rd, in order to promote the stability and security of the region.
Aware of the growing security challenges in the Northern Africa, the US holds Exercise African Lion with Morocco annually, in order to stay ready for threats to global security.
This military event, which strives to improve each nation’s ability to operate collectively and develop a mutual understanding of each nation’s military tactics, witnessed the participation of over 150 soldiers of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, and 350 US service members, alongside additional military personnel from European and African partner nations, according to Cample Jeune Globe.
The training mission is an annual opportunity for both militaries to learn from each other. “Even with the language barrier, the Moroccans and Marines have been able to work together and effectively communicate with one another,” said 1st Lt. Aaron Anderson, a military police officer with the 2ndMarine Expeditionary Bigade.
Ensuring proper application of training procedures and effective dissemination of information, the Moroccan Marines, sailors, airmen and soldiers worked in small groups, and divided the training into three stages.
It started with fire-team formations and hand-and-arm signals, then immediate-action drills and patrolling, before the classes turned to quick-reaction application scenarios based on the lessons, according to the same source.
Hailing the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, the 1st Lt. Shane G. Livingstone, a military police platoon commander said “The Moroccans simply amazed the Marines.”
“This morning we did a ‘check on learning.’ There’s nothing like being able to watch them pick up and execute everything they learned the day before with speed and accuracy, even after having received a lot of classes the same day,” he explained.
African Lion 14 is a positive exercise for the Moroccan army. Morocco, which remains a key player in Africa, can invest the new techniques taught in humanitarian aid and other situations that require non-lethal force, as well as to train other countries.
However, this exercise was not only beneficial for Morocco; the US military learned from the Royal Moroccan Force’s experience as well.
“This training was good for us, because we’ve learned just as much from the Moroccans,” said Sgt. Keenan M. Kite, with the U.S. Army military police.”
Edited by Jessica Rohan
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