Utah Guard special forces soldiers learn mountain rescue in Morocco

By Army Lt. Col. Hank McIntire
Utah National Guard

(4/26/10) -- As part of its ongoing State Partnership Program with Morocco, a Utah National Guard command visit coincided with a unit-level exchange between the 19th Special Forces Group and the 1st Ski Battalion of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces in March.

Army Maj. Gen. Brian Tarbet, the adjutant general of the Utah National Guard, was joined by leaders from the 151st Air Refueling Wing, 19th Special Forces Group and members of his staff.

Tarbet travels to Morocco several times a year to maintain a regular dialog with his senior colleagues in the Moroccan military and often invites Soldiers and Airmen to join him in order to familiarize them with the Utah Guard’s partnership with Morocco, which has been in place since 2003.

Eleven Soldiers of the Utah National Guard, nearly all of whom are from the 19th Special Forces Group, spent two weeks in Oukaimeden, one of only a handful of ski resorts in the entire continent of Africa.

At 10,000 feet, the altitude of the training location, the focus of the exercise was on disaster preparedness, snow movement and mountain-rescue techniques.

“We’re covering medical and mountaineering skills in a downed-aircraft scenario,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Rodney Holliday.

In small groups and one on one, Soldiers of the 19th conducted classes with their Moroccan counterparts on first aid and land navigation.

“We’ve been exchanging techniques back and forth,” said Holliday. “We show them our equipment, they show us theirs. We’re working together toward those goals.”

Tarbet and other Utah Guard leaders observed the training up close and were very impressed.

“As always, when our troops are involved with the Moroccans, I think they are our very best ambassadors,” said Tarbet.

Army Maj. Reece Roberts, officer in charge of the Utah contingent, said the Moroccan battalion is very experienced in high-altitude, cold-weather operations.

“They have shared with us their field-expedient methods, because they don’t have the deep pockets and resources that we have,” he said. “We have been able to pick up ways of doing things and medical treatment and mountaineering techniques when you don’t have all the nice gear that you could pick up at REI.”

A unique capability of the Moroccan army in this environment is their experience in working with pack animals for mountain rescues.

“We have a lot of difficulties transporting equipment and materials here, so we showed them how to use mules in mountains,” said Sr. Lt. Mohammed, a company commander in the 1st Ski Battalion.

“Mules are one of their primary methods of transport,” said Roberts. “What they don’t carry on their backs, they pack onto their mules. We had them teach us some packing and operations with mules because our Special Forces Soldiers have had some experience with mules in Afghanistan.”

While at At Oukaimeden, Senior Utah Guard leaders were also treated to an impressive demonstration of rappelling and climbing techniques by the young, but very experienced Moroccan soldiers. The event was narrated by a 20-something Moroccan officer, who in flawless English explained each phase of the operation.

“In this combined exercise we exchange a lot of things: training, ways of thinking and ways of behaving,” said Mohammed. “We have learned a lot from the Americans, and they have learned a lot from us.”

At the base of the cliff where the climbing exhibition took place, the commander of the 4th Ski Battalion exchanged gifts with Tarbet, and Tarbet inscribed a book for his colleague in a token of friendship.

“These partnerships pay off,” he said. “They have been one of the very successful things the Guard has done for nearly two decades, and the Morocco-Utah relationship has been one of those success stories. We love to work with them.”

Holliday said one of the unit’s core missions is training and working with foreign troops. “All of us have done that previously, so we’re able to build on and improve the skills we’ve been learning in the past,” he said. “We’re using language skills, we’re working together. We see their ways of doing things, which will prepare us to work better with other troops in the future. This experience will help us when we go back to the combat environment.”

“I have been very impressed with the Moroccan soldiers and NCOs here,” said Roberts. “They are very willing to learn, they are asking good questions, they are engaging and they have a good knowledge base. It’s been very beneficial for us to work with them. We’ve really had a good opportunity to build some what I hope to be long-term relationships.”