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Medical exercise provides real-world relief to local Moroccans

Utah Army National Guard Medical Detachment Soldiers entertain local Moroccan children with crafts while their parents receive medical treatment from U.S. and Moroccan troops during a humanitarian civic assistance mission and medical readiness exercise in Taliouine, Morocco, June 24. African Lion 2022 is U.S. Africa Command’s largest, premier, joint, annual exercise hosted by Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia from June 6 - 30, 2022.

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Photo by: Staff Sgt. Oscar Gollaz 

The Utah Army National Guard Medical Detachment, U.S. Army 30th Medical Brigade, and the Royal Moroccan Army collaborated to provide real-world humanitarian assistance to the local population here while simultaneously conducting medical readiness training during African Lion 2022. 

Such collaboration is essential to the humanitarian efforts provided to the local populace in Taliouine by both American and Moroccan forces. In the medical area, key medical components of this collaboration include sharing of regional medical information and best practices by the U.S. Army, the Royal Moroccan Army and civilian medical personnel. 

The partnership between the different players in this area promoted the relationship of the United States’ longest standing ally, the Kingdom of Morocco, along with building stronger bonds that the exercise promotes with other allies as well. 

Army Chief Warrant Officer Three David Kloberdanz, a veterinary food safety officer from the 30th Medical Brigade stationed in Senpak, Germany and the team lead for the medical readiness exercise said, “a part of the partnership is that we are bringing our specialties from the U.S. and they’re bringing their specialties from Morocco to provide care to the host nation’s civilian population.”

In the ophthalmology tent, behind hundreds of glasses lined up on tables, American and Moroccan soldiers worked together to distribute glasses to the local population. “Our personnel are learning how to do certain procedures and taking advice from Moroccan doctors which may not be used in the U.S. and vice versa,” Kloberdanz said. 

Between the U.S. Armed Forces and the Moroccan Armed Forces, the civilians receiving treatment are processed then taken through a series of tents ranging from cataract surgery to gynecological care. While they waited for their parents to receive care, local children played in a childcare tent, while the Utah National Guard gave out hand-carved and painted toy cars. 

The dental tent represented the biggest tent in the facility, bustling with dentists and dental assistants taking care of the local population's dental needs. “The last several days this hospital complex has seen over 18,000 procedures and a little over 6,000 patients,” U.S. Army Europe and Africa Deputy Commanding General 

Maj. Gen. Andrew Rohling, commander, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force - Africa, said, “Many cases we do initial treatment here then we will move them forward to a local hospital to complete care. It is really a continuity of care.” 

African Lion 2022 is U.S. Africa Command's largest, premier, joint, annual exercise hosted by Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia, June 6 - 30. More than 7,500 participants from 28 nations and NATO train together with a focus on enhancing readiness for U.S. and partner nation forces. 

AL 22 is a joint all-domain, multi-component, and multinational exercise, employing a full array of mission capabilities with the goal to strengthen interoperability among participants and set the theater for strategic access. “The rest of African Lion, we are doing military training to be better as a military,” Rohling added. “ Here, not only are we training our doctors but are providing real relief for real people that makes a difference in Morocco.”