
Army and Air National Guard Units with an array of skills proved vital to the success of African Lion 2025, a multinational exercise led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa on behalf of U.S. Africa Command.
This year’s African Lion was the largest and most complex to date, involving a total of 10,000 troops from more than 50 participating nations, including seven NATO allies.
Participating units worked together to sharpen their warfighting skills across harsh and diverse types of terrain in Tunisia, Senegal, Ghana and Morocco from April 14 to May 23.
Guard units were responsible for many key duties in training Moroccan forces during this year’s exercise, as Morocco saw the widest variety of exercises take place, including battlefield drills and in planning, cyber defense and intelligence.
As the Royal Kingdom of Morocco was approved to purchase High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, Soldiers from the New Hampshire Army Guard's 3rd Battalion, 197th Field Artillery Regiment conducted a sling-load exercise to teach Moroccan counterparts how to transport the system components efficiently.
This exercise also saw a CH-47 Chinook piloted by the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces retrieve and drop off a practice rocket pod with Guard assistance.
Rural residents of Morocco received dental care from members of the Utah Air Guard's 151st Medical Group, who worked alongside Moroccan forces in a large field hospital throughout the duration of the exercise.
Guardsmen also provided training to FAR personnel in the space domain.
The Hawaii Air Guard’s 109th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron gave a hands-on demonstration and training in the use of the NITE OWL LITE signals intelligence system.
─ By Zita Fletcher, with reporting from Sgt. 1st. Class Jessica Forrester