Courtesy Story
AGADIR, Morocco – Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, members of the Federal Republic of Germany Armed Forces, a small representation of NATO personnel and U.S. personnel with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade along with representatives from 13 African and European partner nations began Exercise African Lion, March 26, 2014.
African Lion is a combined-joint exercise between the Kingdom of Morocco, and the U.S. that involves approximately 350 U.S. servicemembers, 150 soldiers of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, and additional personnel from European and African partner nations.
“Second Marine Expeditionary Brigade is honored to be a part of Exercise African Lion,” said Brig. Gen. John K. Love, the 2nd MEB commanding general. “Exercise African Lion has a long history and it is very important for the relationship between Morocco and the U.S. We recognize the importance of Exercise African Lion to continue that friendship and partnership between our nations.”
This exercise is a military-to-military engagement featuring various types of military training including: command-post exercises with humanitarian aid and disaster relief themes; stability operations, such as nonlethal and live-fire weapons training and respond-to-crisis drills; an intelligence capacity-building workshop; and a multi-national observer program.
“The difference between this African Lion and previous exercises is this is now elevated, and will be exercised at the operational level,” said Love. “This is a good opportunity for both of our staffs to learn about the operational level of war and how to conduct operations as a combined joint task force.”
A successful exercise will strengthen partnerships in the region by increasing understanding of each nation’s capabilities and ability to operate together.
This exercise is conducted annually in accordance with UN-mandated peace operations with humanitarian assistance themes and emphasizes the strong military bond between the Moroccan and U.S. armed forces. It reinforces training engagements conducted in previous African Lion exercises, and creates a foundation for scheduled inter-military cooperation in the future. African Lion 14 also improves interoperability between nations, building relationships with this key strategic region within the U.S. Africa Command area of responsibility.
