Moroccan and US military personnel have concluded a major disaster planning exercise and a four-week training program on handling explosive hazards, the US embassy announced on Thursday.
Members of the Utah National Guard are in Kasr Sghir this week participating in Exercise Maroc Mantlet, the premier disaster planning and preparedness exercise in the Kingdom, alongside partners from the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) and Moroccan civilian agencies, it said.
This year’s exercise, for which the FAR led planning, featured a scenario based on a large-scale industrial catastrophe that requires search and rescue both on land and at sea, industrial fire-fighting in a HAZMAT environment, and crisis management at the national level.
“These joint training programs are a critical component of the close, strategic partnership between Morocco and the United States,” said US Army Major General Michael J. Turley, adjutant general of the Utah National Guard, who visited Morocco this week to observe the conclusion of these exercises.
“We are always working closely with our Moroccan partners to confront a range of possible threats, including natural disasters or industrial accidents, as well as conventional security concerns.”
Maroc Mantlet includes international observers from Djibouti, France, Jordan, Mauritania, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Tunisia.
Morocco participates in more than 100 military engagements with US forces yearly. It hosts African Lion – the largest yearly military exercise on the continent – and is a major partner in both the US International Military Education and Training and Foreign Military Sales programs, the embassy said.
