Guard special forces train, advise royal Moroccan Army
National Guard, Nov 2001 by Pearce, Howard
Tracers arc through the North African sky. A rocket-propelled grenade sounds off upon discharge and impact, briefly turning night into day. A star then cluster shoots into the air, signaling the much-anticipated assault.
Soldiers, wearing unfamiliar uniforms and firing AK-47 rifles, race across the rocky desert floor. Behind them is a soldier wearing U.S. Army desert camouflage and body armor, shouting instructions in French and Arabic.
He is a trainer, an advisor, a Green Beret and a member of the Ohio Army National Guard.
In May, a team from B Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group deployed to Morocco to train with the Royal Moroccan Army. They were the first Green Berets in more than 20 years to train in Morocco, said Capt. Joseph Stanjones, company commander.
The training focused on day and night parachute operations, working with foreign weapons and combined live-fire exercises.
The highlight for Guardsmen was firing their host's weapons, many of which were Soviet origin.
Similarly, Moroccan soldiers were eager to learn about the capabilities and maintenance of Humvees, which they had recently acquired.
Morocco sits on the northwestern coast of Africa. The ancient heritage of Islamic and Moorish expansion has combined with the cosmopolitan traits of French colonialism to produce a unique culture.
The language is a mix of French and Arabic, sometimes referred to as "Farabic," and it created some initial communications problems between Guardsmen and their hosts.
"The members of our team who were fluent in one of these languages still had some difficulty at first because the Moroccan [dialect] flows effortlessly between the two," said Sgt. 1st Class Jay Brove.
But "as we got to know our counterparts better, we found that many of these soldiers also spoke Spanish," he said.
-By Capt. Howard Pearce
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http://books.google.de/books?id=nJP...SOS morocco paratrooper&pg=PA310&output=embed
Compositions des Forces Spéciales
- 2 Brigades d'infanterie parachutiste (BIP)
- 7 unités de commandos
- 2 bataillons d'assauts aéroportés
-1 bataillon de chasseur alpin (montagne)
-1 Groupement de commando de la Garde Royale
- 1 BLS (Brigade Légère de Sécurité)
-GTI (Groupement Tactique d'Intervention motorisé/mécanisés) basé le long du Mur Saharien.
-Le Camel Corps (unité motorisé)
Création de 3 unités militaires spécialisées:
- lutte contre le terrorisme;
- lutte contre le trafic International de stupéfiants et contrebande;
- lutte contre l'immigration clandestine.