An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | Jan. 21, 2010

Utah, Morocco still learning from each other

By Sgt. First Class Scott Faddis Utah National Guard

RABAT, Morocco, - Utah and the Kingdom of Morocco have shared experiences and learned lessons from each other throughout the past six years of their alliance through the National Guard's State Partnership Program (SPP).

In 2009, Utah and Morocco supported six different activities to include medical, engineering, disaster, and pandemic disease control.

Morocco is currently in the process of purchasing 24 F-16s from the U.S. government, and the Moroccan Air Force requested air-refueling training missions with the Utah Air National Guard (ANG).

"We need practice with the boom," said Moroccan Maj. Gen. Ahmed Boutaleb, inspector of the Royal Air Force. "We need some help from (Utah ANG) in terms of air refueling with the KC-135."

About 80 percent of what the unit's KC-135 crews do is boom operations, Air Force Maj. Gen. Brian Tarbet, the Utah National Guard's adjutant general.

"When you get new airplanes in 2011," Tarbet said to his Moroccan counterparts, "I hope they are following a Utah tanker across the Atlantic."

The National Guard's State Partnership Program links U.S. states with foreign nations to promote and enhance bilateral relations. The Guard has forged partnerships with more than 60 countries worldwide. Within the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) area of responsibility, Utah is one of eight U.S. states partnered with an African nation's military.

The program promotes regional stability and civil-military relationships in support of U.S. policy objectives, according to AFRICOM officials. State partners actively participate in activities that include familiarization and training events, exercises, fellowship-style internships, and civic leader visits.

The partnership with Morocco has not only experienced aircraft-related training missions, but also medical ones as well.

Utah's partnership brought technology to Moroccans that allowed tracking of pandemic diseases and availability of up-to-the-minute information on the spread of disease at a time when Morocco had six confirmed cases of H1N1 and was concerned about the possibility of a widespread pandemic flu outbreak.

Dr. Don Wood, from Utah's Bureau of Emergency Medical Service and Preparedness, recently discussed the latest information on H1N1 flu to the Moroccan Military's Medical Department, including the inspector of Medical Services, Brigadier General Ali Abrouk.

The Moroccan military and the Utah National Guard share the similar responsibility of providing disaster response support, and their experiences have allowed them to share their knowledge and strengthen their relationship.

"I hope we are acting as good listeners and good students," said Tarbet. "We have a lot to learn from our Moroccan partners."

 

 

Related Articles
U.S. Soldiers with the Army National Guard speak with D.C. locals while patrolling Metro Center Aug 26, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work, and visit the District.
Guard Members From Six States, D.C. on Duty in Washington in Support of Local, Fed Authorities
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, | Aug. 29, 2025
WASHINGTON – More than 2,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from six states and the District of Columbia are on duty in Washington as part of Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in support of local and federal...

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...